Media system with mulitple digital assistants

ABSTRACT

Disclosed herein are system, apparatus, article of manufacture, method and/or computer program product embodiments, and/or combinations and sub-combinations thereof, for providing voice control using multiple digital assistants. In some embodiments, a voice platform operates to receive a voice input from a user. The voice platform selects a digital assistant from a plurality of digital assistants based on a trigger word. The voice platform then generates an intent from the voice input using the selected digital assistant. The voice platform then transmits the intent to a media device for processing.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.17/347,021, filed Jun. 14, 2021, which is a continuation of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 16/032,724, filed Jul. 11, 2018, now U.S. Pat. No.11,062,702 B2, which claims priority to U.S. Provisional PatentApplication titled “Media System With Multiple Digital Assistants,” Ser.No. 62/550,940, filed Aug. 28, 2017; and is related to U.S. PatentApplication titled “Audio Responsive Device With Play/Stop And Tell MeSomething Buttons,” Ser. No. 16/032,730, filed Jul. 11, 2018, now U.S.Pat. No. 10,777,197; U.S. Patent Application titled “Local And CloudSpeech Recognition,” Ser. No. 16/032,868, filed Jul. 11, 2018, nowpending; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/962,478 titled “RemoteControl with Presence Sensor,” filed Apr. 25, 2018, now U.S. Pat. No.10,455,322; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/341,552 titled“Reception Of Audio Commands,” filed Nov. 2, 2016, now U.S. Pat. No.10,210,863; and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/646,379 titled“Controlling Visual Indicators In An Audio Responsive Electronic Device,and Capturing and Providing Audio Using an API, By Native and Non-NativeComputing Devices and Services,” filed Jul. 11, 2017, now U.S. Pat. No.10,599,377, all of which are herein incorporated by reference in theirentireties.

BACKGROUND Field

This disclosure is generally directed to distributing the performance ofspeech recognition among a remote control device and a voice platform inthe cloud in order to improve speech recognition and reduce power usage,network usage, memory usage, and processing time. This disclosure isfurther directed to providing voice control in a media streamingenvironment using multiple digital assistants.

Background

Many remote control devices, including universal remote controls, audioresponsive remote controls, cell phones, and personal digital assistants(PDAs), to name just a few examples, allow a user to remotely controlvarious electronic devices and are typically powered by a remote powersupply, such as a battery or power cell. It is desirable to maximize thetime that a remote control device may operate before its power supplymust be replaced or recharged. But the functionality of and demands onremote control devices have increased through the years.

For example, an audio responsive remote control device may receive voiceinput from a user. The audio responsive remote control device mayanalyze the voice input to recognize trigger words and commands. But theaudio responsive remote control may process the voice commandsincorrectly because of the presence of background noise that negativelyimpacts the ability of the audio responsive remote control to clearlyreceive and recognize the voice command. This may prevent the audioresponsive remote control from performing the voice commands, or maycause the audio responsive remote control to perform the incorrect voicecommands.

In order to improve the recognition of the voice input, an audioresponsive remote control may require a faster processor and increasedmemory. But a faster processor and increased memory may require greaterpower consumption, which results in greater power supply demands andreduced convenience and reliability because of the shorter intervalsrequired between replacing or recharging batteries.

In order to reduce power consumption, an audio responsive remote controldevice may send the voice input to a voice service in the cloud forremote processing (rather than processing locally). The voice servicemay then analyze the voice input to recognize trigger words andcommands. For example, rather than processing locally, an audioresponsive remote control device may send the voice input to a digitalassistant at the voice service which may analyze the voice input inorder to recognize commands to be performed. The digital assistant mayuse automated speech recognition and natural language processingtechniques to determine the task the user is intending to perform.Because the digital assistant at the voice service analyzes the voiceinput, the audio responsive remote control device may not require afaster processor and increased memory.

But sending the voice input to a voice service in the cloud for remoteprocessing may increase network consumption, especially where the voiceinput is continuously streamed to the voice service. Moreover, sendingthe voice input to a voice service in the cloud may increase theresponse time for handling the voice input. For example, a user may notbe able to immediately issue a voice command to an audio responsiveremote control because high latency may be associated with sending thevoice command to the voice service. This lack of responsiveness maydecrease user satisfaction.

Moreover, an audio responsive remote control device is typicallyconfigured to work with a single digital assistant (e.g., at a voiceservice). But various types of digital assistants have been developedthrough the years for understanding and performing different types oftasks. Each of these digital assistants is often good at performingcertain types of tasks but poor at performing other types of tasks. Forexample, some digital assistants understand general natural languagerequests from a user. Some digital assistants are optimized forunderstanding requests from a user based on personal data collectedabout the user. Some digital assistants are optimized for understandingrequests from a user based on location data.

A user often wants to use all of these various types of digitalassistants. But because an audio responsive remote control device isoften configured to work with a single digital assistant, a user may beforced to buy different audio responsive electronic devices that areconfigured to work with different digital assistants. This is oftenprohibitively expensive for a user. Moreover, even if a user buysseveral different audio responsive remote control device that areconfigured to work with different digital assistants, there is nointegration across the different digital assistants. Finally, a user mayoften select a digital assistant that is not the best solution for atask.

SUMMARY

Provided herein are system, apparatus, article of manufacture, methodand/or computer program product embodiments, and/or combinations andsub-combinations thereof, for distributing the performance of speechrecognition between a remote control device and a voice platform in thecloud. Some embodiments operate to detect a trigger word in a voiceinput at a remote control device. The remote control device thenprocesses the voice input and transmits the voice input to a voiceplatform in order to determine an intent associated with the voiceinput.

While embodiments are described with respect to the example ofperforming speech recognition between an audio responsive remote controldevice and a voice platform in the cloud in a media streamingenvironment, these embodiments are applicable to the control of anyelectronic devices in any environment.

Also described herein are embodiments for providing voice control in amedia streaming environment using multiple digital assistants. Someembodiments operate to select a digital assistant from a plurality ofdigital assistants based on a trigger word. Some embodiments generate anintent from the voice input using the selected digital assistant.

While embodiments are described with respect to the example of providingvoice control of a media device using multiple digital assistants, theseembodiments are applicable to the control of any electronic devices inany environment.

Also described herein are embodiments for an audio responsive electronicdevice. The audio responsive electronic device includes a data storagehaving stored therein an intent queue. Intents are stored in the intentqueue. The audio responsive electronic device operates by receiving anindication that a user pressed the play/stop button. The audioresponsive electronic device retrieves from the intent queue an intentlast stored in the queue, wherein the retrieved intent is associatedwith content previously paused. The audio responsive electronic devicealso retrieves from the intent queue state information associated withthe paused content, and then causes content to be played based on atleast the paused content and the state information.

In some embodiments, the audio responsive electronic device receives anindication that a user selected tell me something functionality. Inresponse, the audio responsive electronic device determines an identityof the user, determines a location of the identified user, and accessesinformation relating to the identified user. Based on this information,the audio responsive electronic device retrieves a topic from a topicdatabase, and customizes the retrieved topic for the identified user.Then, the audio responsive electronic device audibly provides thecustomized topic to the identified user.

This Summary is provided merely for purposes of illustrating someexample embodiments to provide an understanding of the subject matterdescribed herein. Accordingly, the above-described features are merelyexamples and should not be construed to narrow the scope or spirit ofthe subject matter in this disclosure. Other features, aspects, andadvantages of this disclosure will become apparent from the followingDetailed Description, Figures, and Claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

The accompanying drawings are incorporated herein and form a part of thespecification.

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of a data processing system thatincludes an audio responsive electronic device, according to someembodiments.

FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of a microphone array having aplurality of microphones, shown oriented relative to a display deviceand a user, according to some embodiments.

FIG. 3 illustrates a method for enhancing audio from a user andde-enhancing audio from a display device and/or other noise sources,according to some embodiments.

FIG. 4 illustrates a method for de-enhancing audio from a display deviceand/or other noise sources, according to some embodiments.

FIG. 5 illustrates a method for intelligently placing a display devicein a standby mode, according to some embodiments.

FIG. 6 illustrates a method for intelligently placing an audio remotecontrol in a standby mode, according to some embodiments.

FIG. 7 illustrates a method for performing intelligent transmission froma display device to an audio remote control, according to someembodiments.

FIG. 8 illustrates a method for enhancing audio from a user, accordingto some embodiments.

FIG. 9 illustrates an example application programming interface (API)that includes a library of example commands for controlling visualindicators of an audio responsive electronic device, according to someembodiments.

FIG. 10 illustrates a method in an audio responsive electronic devicefor providing to users visual indicators from computing entities/devicesthat are non-native to the audio responsive electronic device, accordingto some embodiments.

FIG. 11 illustrates a block diagram of a voice platform that analyzesvoice input from an audio responsive electronic device, according tosome embodiments.

FIG. 12 illustrates a method for performing speech recognition for adigital assistant, according to some embodiments.

FIG. 13 illustrates a method for performing speech recognition formultiple digital assistants, according to some embodiments.

FIG. 14 illustrates an audio responsive electronic device having aplay/stop button and a tell me something button, according to someembodiments.

FIGS. 15 and 16 illustrate flowcharts for controlling an audioresponsive electronic device using a play/stop button, according to someembodiments.

FIG. 17 illustrates a flowchart for controlling an audio responsiveelectronic device using a tell me something button, according to someembodiments.

FIG. 18 is an example computer system useful for implementing variousembodiments.

In the drawings, like reference numbers generally indicate identical orsimilar elements. Additionally, generally, the left-most digit(s) of areference number identifies the drawing in which the reference numberfirst appears.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of a data processing system 102,according to some embodiments. In a non-limiting example, dataprocessing system 102 is a media or home electronics system 102.

The media system 102 may include a display device 104 (e.g. monitors,televisions, computers, phones, tablets, projectors, etc.) and a mediadevice 114 (e.g. streaming devices, multimedia devices, audio/videoplayback devices, etc.). In some embodiments, the media device 114 canbe a part of, integrated with, operatively coupled to, and/or connectedto display device 104. The media device 114 can be configured tocommunicate with network 118. In various embodiments, the network 118can include, without limitation, wired and/or wireless intranet,extranet, Internet, cellular, Bluetooth and/or any other local, shortrange, ad hoc, regional, global communications network, as well as anycombination thereof.

The media system 102 also includes one or more content sources 120 (alsocalled content servers 120). Content sources 120 may each store music,videos, movies, TV programs, multimedia, images, still pictures, text,graphics, gaming applications, advertisements, software, and/or anyother content in electronic form.

The media system 102 may include a user 136 and a remote control 138.Remote control 138 can be any component, part, apparatus or method forcontrolling media device 114 and/or display device 104, such as a remotecontrol, a tablet, laptop computer, smartphone, on-screen controls,integrated control buttons, or any combination thereof, to name just afew examples.

The media system 102 may also include an audio responsive electronicdevice 122. In some embodiments herein, the audio responsive electronicdevice 122 is an audio remote control device. Audio responsiveelectronic device 122 may receive audio commands from user 136 oranother source of audio commands (such as but not limited to the audioof content output by speaker(s) 108 of display device 104). Audioresponsive electronic device 122 may transmit control signalscorresponding to such audio commands to media device 114, display device104, digital assistant(s) 180 and/or any other component in system 102,to cause the media device 114, display device 104, digital assistant(s)180 and/or other component to operate according to the audio commands.

The display device 104 may include a display 106, speaker(s) 108, acontrol module 110, transceiver 112, presence detector 150, and beamforming module 170. Control module 110 may receive and respond tocommands from media device 114, remote control 138 and/or audioresponsive electronic device 122 to control the operation of displaydevice 104, such as selecting a source, varying audio and/or videoproperties, adjusting volume, powering on and off, to name just a fewexamples. Control module 110 may receive such commands via transceiver112. Transceiver 112 may operate according to any communication standardor technique, such as infrared, cellular, WIFI, Blue Tooth, to name justa few examples. Transceiver 112 may comprise a plurality oftransceivers. The plurality of transceivers may transmit data using aplurality of antennas. For example, the plurality of transceivers mayuse multiple input multiple output (MIMO) technology.

Presence detector 150 may detect the presence, or near presence of user136. Presence detector 150 may further determine a position of user 136.For example, presence detector 150 may detect user 136 in a specificquadrant of a room such as a living room. Beam forming module 170 mayadjust a transmission pattern of transceiver 112 to establish andmaintain a peer to peer wireless network connection to audio responsiveelectronic device 122.

In some embodiments, presence detector 150 may be a motion sensor, or aplurality of motion sensors. The motion sensor may be passive infrared(PIR) sensor that detects motion based on body heat. The motion sensormay be passive sensor that detects motion based on an interaction ofradio waves (e.g., radio waves of the IEEE 802.11 standard) with aperson. The motion sensor may be microwave motion sensor that detectsmotion using radar. For example, the microwave motion sensor may detectmotion through the principle of Doppler radar. The motion sensor may bean ultrasonic motion sensor. The motion sensor may be a tomographicmotion sensor that detects motion by sensing disturbances to radio wavesas they pass from node to node in a wireless network. The motion sensormay be video camera software that analyzes video from a video camera todetect motion in a field of view. The motion sensor may be a soundsensor that analyzes sound from a microphone to detect motion in thesurrounding area. As would be appreciated by a person of ordinary skillin the art, the motion sensor may be various other types of sensors, andmay use various other types of mechanisms for motion detection orpresence detection now known or developed in the future.

In some embodiments, display device 104 may operate in standby mode.Standby mode may be a low power mode. Standby mode may reduce powerconsumption compared to leaving display device 104 fully on. Displaydevice 104 may also exit standby mode more quickly than a time toperform a full startup. Standby mode may therefore reduce the time auser may have to wait before interacting with display device 104.

In some embodiments, display device 104 may operate in standby mode byturning off one or more of display 106, speaker(s) 108, control module110, and transceiver 112. The turning off of these one or morecomponents may reduce power usage. In some embodiments, display device104 may keep on control module 110 and transceiver 112 in standby mode.This may allow display device 104 to receive input from user 136, oranother device, via control module 110 and exit standby mode. Forexample, display device 104 may turn on display 104 and speaker(s) 108upon exiting standby mode.

In some embodiments, display device 104 may keep on presence detector150 in standby mode. Presence detector 150 may then monitor for thepresence, or near presence, of user 136 by display device 104. In someembodiments, presence detector 150 may cause display device 104 to exitstandby mode when presence detector 150 detects the presence, or nearpresence, of user 136 by display device 104. This is because thepresence of user 136 by display device 104 likely means user 136 will beinterested in viewing and issuing commands to display device 104.

In some embodiments, presence detector 150 may cause display device 104to exit standby mode when presence detector 150 detects user 136 in aspecific location. In some embodiments, presence detector 150 may be apassive infrared motion sensor that detects motion at a certain distanceand angle. In some other embodiments, presence detector 150 may be apassive sensor that detects motion at a certain distance and angle basedon an interaction of radio waves (e.g., radio waves of the IEEE 802.11standard) with a person (e.g., user 136). This determined distance andangle may indicate user 136 is in a specific location. For example,presence detector 150 may detect user 136 being in a specific quadrantof a room. Similarly, presence detector 150 may detect user 136 beingdirectly in front of display device 104. Determining user 136 is in aspecific location may reduce the number of times presence detector 150may inadvertently cause display device 104 to exit standby mode. Forexample, presence detector 150 may not cause display device 104 to exitstandby mode when user 136 is not directly in front of display device104.

In some embodiments, presence detector 150 may monitor for the presenceof user 136 by display device 104 when display device 104 is turned on.Display device 104 may detect the lack of presence of user 136 bydisplay device 104 at a current time using presence detector 150.Display device 104 may then determine the difference between the currenttime and a past time of a past user presence detection by presencedetector 150. Display device 104 may place itself in standby mode if thetime difference is greater than a period of time threshold. The periodof time threshold may be user configured. In some embodiments, displaydevice 104 may prompt user 136 via display 106 and or speaker(s) 108 toconfirm user 136 is still watching and or listening to display device104. In some embodiments, display device 104 may place itself in standbymode if user 136 does not respond to the prompt in a period of time.

Media device 114 may include a control interface module 116 for sendingand receiving commands to/from display device 104, remote control 138and/or audio responsive electronic device 122.

In some embodiments, media device 114 may include one or more voiceadaptor(s) 196. In some embodiments, a voice adaptor 196 may interactwith a digital assistant 180 to process an intent for an application194.

In some embodiments, a digital assistant 180 is an intelligent softwareagent that performs tasks for user 136. In some embodiments, a digitalassistant 180 may analyze received voice input to determine an intent ofuser 136.

In some embodiments, media device 114 may include one or moreapplication(s) 194. An application 194 may interact with a contentsource 120 over network 118 to select content, such as a movie, TV showor song. As would be appreciated by a person of ordinary skill in theart, an application 194 may also be referred to as a channel.

In operation, user 136 may use remote control 138 or audio responsiveelectronic device 122 to interact with media device 114 to selectcontent, such as a movie, TV show or song. In some embodiments, user 136may use remote control 138 or audio responsive electronic device 122 tointeract with an application 194 on media device 114 to select content.Media device 114 requests the selected content from content source(s)120 over the network 118. In some embodiments, an application 194requests the selected content from a content source 120. Contentsource(s) 120 transmits the requested content to media device 114. Insome embodiments, content source 120 transmits the requested content toan application 194. Media device 114 transmits the content to displaydevice 104 for playback using display 106 and/or speakers 108. User 136may use remote control 138 or audio responsive electronic device 122 tochange settings of display device 104, such as changing the volume, thesource, the channel, display and audio settings, to name just a fewexamples.

In some embodiments, the user 136 may enter commands on remote control138 by pressing buttons or using a touch screen on remote control 138,such as channel up/down, volume up/down, play/pause/stop/rewind/fastforward, menu, up, down, left, right, to name just a few examples.

Voice Control Enhancements for Digital Assistant Use

In some embodiments, the user 136 may also or alternatively entercommands using audio responsive electronic device 122 by speaking acommand. For example, to increase the volume, the user 136 may say“Volume Up.” To change to the immediately preceding channel, the user136 may say “Channel down.”

In some embodiments, the user 136 may say a trigger word before sayingcommands, to better enable the audio responsive electronic device 122 todistinguish between commands and other spoken words. For example, thetrigger word may be “Command,” “Hey Roku,” or “Ok Google.” For example,to increase the volume, the user 136 may say “Command Volume Up.”

In some embodiments, audio responsive electronic device 122 may select adigital assistant 180 from among a plurality of digital assistants 180in voice platform 192 to process voice commands. Each respective digitalassistant 180 may have its own trigger word and particularfunctionality. Audio responsive electronic device 122 may select adigital assistant 180 based on a trigger word. Audio responsiveelectronic device 122 may recognize one or more trigger words associatedwith the different digital assistants 180.

In some embodiments, the audio responsive electronic device 122 mayinclude a microphone array 124 comprising one or more microphones 126.The audio responsive electronic device 122 may also include a userinterface and command module 128, transceiver 130, beam forming module132, data storage 134, and presence detector 160. The audio responsiveelectronic device 122 may further include visual indicators 182,speakers 190, and a processor or processing module 184 having aninterface 186 and database library 188, according to some embodiments(further described below). In some embodiments, the library 188 may bestored in data storage 134.

In some embodiments, user interface and command module 128 may receiveaudio input via microphone array 124. The audio input may be from user136, display device 104 (via speakers 108), or any other audio source insystem 102. User interface and command module 128 may analyze thereceived audio input to recognize trigger words and commands, using anywell-known signal recognition techniques, procedures, technologies, etc.The user interface and command module 128 may generate command signalscompatible with display device 104 and/or media device 114 correspondingto the recognized commands, and transmit such commands to display device104 and/or media device 114 via transceiver 130, to thereby causedisplay device 104 and/or media device 114 to operate according to thecommands.

In some embodiments, user interface and command module 128 may transmitthe audio input (e.g., voice input) to digital assistant(s) 180 based ona recognized trigger word. The user interface and command module 128 maytransmit the audio input to digital assistant(s) 180 via transceiver130, to thereby cause digital assistant(s) 180 to operate according tothe audio input. Transceiver 130 may operate according to anycommunication standard or technique, such as infrared, cellular, WIFI,Blue Tooth, to name just a few examples. Audio responsive electronicdevice 122 may be powered by a battery 140, or via an external powersource 142 (such as AC power, for example).

In some embodiments, user interface and command module 128 may receivevoice input from a user 136 via microphone array 124. In someembodiments, user interface and command module 128 may continuouslyreceive voice input from a user 136.

In some embodiments, user interface and command module 128 may analyzethe voice input to recognize trigger words and commands, using anywell-known signal recognition techniques, procedures, technologies, etc.In some other embodiments, user interface and command module 128 and adigital assistant 180 in voice platform 192 may analyze the voice inputto recognize trigger words and commands. This combined local/remoteanalysis of the voice input by user interface and command module 128(local) and digital assistant 180 (remote, or cloud) may improve thespeech recognition of the voice input and reduce power usage, networkusage, memory usage, and processing time.

In some other embodiments, user interface and command module 128 maystream the voice input to a digital assistant 180 in voice platform 192via network 118. For example, in some embodiments, user interface andcommand module 128 may stream the voice input in response to audioresponsive electronic device 122 receiving a push-to-talk (PTT) commandfrom a user 136. In this case, user interface and command module 128 mayignore analyzing the voice input to recognize trigger words becausereception of the PTT command indicates user 136 is inputting voicecommands. Instead, digital assistant 180 in voice platform 192 mayanalyze the voice input to recognize the trigger words and commands.

In some embodiments, user interface and command module 128 and a digitalassistant 180 in voice platform 192 may together analyze the voice inputto recognize trigger words and commands. For example, in someembodiments, user interface and command module 128 may preprocess thevoice input prior to sending the voice input to a digital assistant 180in voice platform 192. For example, in some embodiments, user interfaceand command module 128 may perform one or more of echo cancellation,trigger word detection, and noise cancellation on the voice input. Insome embodiments, a digital assistant 180 in voice platform 192 mayanalyze the preprocessed voice input to determine an intent of a user136. In some embodiments, an intent may represent a task, goal, oroutcome for user 136. For example, user 136 may say “Hey Roku, play jazzon Pandora on my television.” In this case, digital assistant 180 maydetermine that the intent of user 136 is to play jazz music on anapplication 194 (e.g., the Pandora application) on display device 104.

In some embodiments, user interface and command module 128 maypreprocess the voice input using a Digital Signal Processor (DSP). Thisis because a DSP often has better power efficiency than a generalpurpose microprocessor since it is designed and optimized for digitalsignal processing (e.g., audio signal processing). In some otherembodiments, user interface and command module 128 may preprocess thevoice input using a general purpose microprocessor (e.g., an x86architecture processor).

In some embodiments, user interface and command module 128 may performecho cancellation on the voice input. For example, user interface andcommand module 128 may receive voice input via microphone array 124 fromuser 136 while loud music is playing in the background (e.g., viaspeakers 108). This background noise may make it difficult to clearlyreceive and recognize trigger words and commands in the voice input. Insome embodiments, user interface and command module 128 may perform echocancellation on the voice input to filter out background noise. In someembodiments, user interface and command module 128 may perform echocancellation on the voice input by subtracting a background audio signal(e.g., the audio signal being output by media system 102 via speakers108) from the voice input received via microphone array 124. In someembodiments, user interface and command module 128 may perform echocancellation on the voice input prior to performing trigger worddetection. This may enable user interface and command module 128 to moreaccurately recognize trigger words and commands in the voice input.

In some embodiments, user interface and command module 128 may performtrigger word detection on the voice input. In some embodiments, userinterface and command module 128 may continuously perform trigger worddetection.

In some embodiments, a trigger word is a short word or saying that maycause subsequent commands to be sent directly to a digital assistant 180in voice platform 192. A trigger word may enable user interface andcommand module 128 to distinguish between commands and other spokenwords from user 136. In other words, a trigger word may cause userinterface and command module 128 to establish a conversation between adigital assistant 180 and a user 136. In some embodiments, a triggerword corresponds to a particular digital assistant 180 in voice platform192. In some embodiments, different digital assistants 180 areassociated with and respond to different trigger words.

In some embodiments, user interface and command module 128 may start aconversation with a digital assistant 180 in voice platform 192 inresponse to detecting a trigger word in the voice input. In someembodiments, user interface and command module 128 may send the voiceinput to a digital assistant 180 for the duration of the conversation.In some embodiments, user interface and command module 128 may stop theconversation between the digital assistant 180 and user 136 in responseto receiving a stop intent in the voice input from user 136 (e.g., “HeyRoku, Stop”).

In some embodiments, user interface and command module 128 may performtrigger word detection on the voice input using reduced processingcapability and memory capacity. This is because there may be a smallnumber of trigger words, and the trigger words may be of short duration.For example, in some embodiments, user interface and command module 128may perform trigger word detection on the voice input using a low powerDSP.

In some embodiments, user interface and command module 128 may performtrigger word detection for a single trigger word. For example, userinterface and command module 128 may perform speech recognition on thevoice input and compare the speech recognition result to the triggerword. If the speech recognition result is the same, or substantiallysimilar to the trigger word, user interface and command module 128 maystream the voice input to a digital assistant 180 in voice platform 192that is associated with the trigger word. This may reduce the amount ofnetwork transmission. This is because user interface and command module128 may avoid streaming the voice input to a digital assistant 180 invoice platform 192 when the voice input does not contain commands.

As would be appreciated by a person of ordinary skill in the art, userinterface and command module 128 may perform speech recognition on thevoice input using any well-known signal recognition techniques,procedures, technologies, etc. Moreover, as would be appreciated by aperson of ordinary skill in the art, user interface and command module128 may compare the speech recognition result to the trigger word usingvarious well-known comparison techniques, procedures, technologies, etc.

In some other embodiments, user interface and command module 128 mayperform trigger word detection for multiple trigger words. For example,user interface and command module 128 may perform trigger word detectionfor the trigger words “Hey Roku” and “OK Google.” In some embodiments,different trigger words may correspond to different digital assistants180. This enables a user 136 to interact with different digitalassistants 180 using different trigger words. In some embodiments, userinterface and command module 128 may store the different trigger wordsin data storage 134 of the audio responsive electronic device 122.

In some embodiments, user interface and command module 128 may performtrigger word detection for multiple trigger words by performing speechrecognition on the voice input. In some embodiments, user interface andcommand module 128 may compare the speech recognition result to themultiple trigger words in data storage 134. If the speech recognitionresult is the same or substantially similar to one of the trigger words,user interface and command module 128 may stream the voice input fromuser 136 to a digital assistant 180 in voice platform 192 that isassociated with the trigger word.

In some other embodiments, user interface and command module 128 maysend the speech recognition result to a voice adaptor 196. In some otherembodiments, user interface and command module 128 may send the speechrecognition result to multiple voice adaptors 196 in parallel.

In some embodiments, a voice adaptor 196 may operate with a digitalassistant 180. While voice adaptor(s) 196 are shown in media device 114,a person of ordinary skill in the art would understand that voiceadaptor(s) 196 may also operate on audio responsive electronic device122.

In some embodiments, a voice adaptor 196 may compare the speechrecognition result to a trigger word associated with the voice adaptor196. In some embodiments, a voice adaptor 196 may notify user interfaceand command module 128 that the speech recognition result is the same orsubstantially similar to the trigger word associated with the voiceadaptor 196. If the speech recognition result is the same orsubstantially similar to the trigger word, user interface and commandmodule 128 may stream the voice input from user 136 to a digitalassistant 180 in voice platform 192 that is associated with the triggerword.

In some other embodiments, if the speech recognition result is the sameor substantially similar to the trigger word, a voice adaptor 196 maystream the voice input from user 136 to a digital assistant 180 in voiceplatform 192 that is associated with the trigger word.

In some embodiments, user interface and command module 128 may performnoise cancellation on the voice input. In some embodiments, userinterface and command module 128 may perform noise cancellation on thevoice input after detecting a trigger word.

For example, in some embodiments, user interface and command module 128may receive voice input via microphone array 124 from user 136. Thevoice input, however, may include background noise picked up bymicrophone array 124. This background noise may make it difficult toclearly receive and recognize the voice input. In some embodiments, userinterface and command module 128 may perform noise cancellation on thevoice input to filter out this background noise.

In some embodiments, user interface and command module 128 may performnoise cancellation on the voice input using beam forming techniques. Forexample, audio responsive electronic device 122 may use beam formingtechniques on any of its microphones 126 to de-emphasize reception ofaudio from a microphone in microphone array 124 that is positioned awayfrom user 136.

For example, in some embodiments, user interface and command module 128may perform noise cancellation on the voice input using beam formingmodule 132. For example, beam forming module 132 may adjust thereception pattern 204A of the front microphone 126A (and potentiallyalso reception patterns 204D and 204B of the right microphone 126D andthe left microphone 126) to suppress or even negate the receipt of audiofrom display device 104. Beam forming module 132 may perform thisfunctionality using any well-known beam forming technique, operation,process, module, apparatus, technology, etc.

In some embodiments, voice platform 192 may process the preprocessedvoice input from audio responsive electronic device 122. In someembodiments, voice platform 192 may include one or more digitalassistants 180. In some embodiments, a digital assistant 180 is anintelligent software agent that can perform tasks for user 136. Forexample, a digital assistant 180 may include, but is not limited to,Amazon Alexa®, Apple Siri®, Microsoft Cortana®, and Google Assistant®.In some embodiments, voice platform 192 may select a digital assistant180 to process the preprocessed voice input based on a trigger word inthe voice input. In some embodiments, a digital assistant 180 may have aunique trigger word.

In some embodiments, voice platform 192 may be implemented in a cloudcomputing platform. In some other embodiments, voice platform 192 may beimplemented on a server computer. In some embodiments, voice platform192 may be operated by a third-party entity. In some embodiments, audioresponsive electronic device 122 may send the preprocessed voice inputto voice platform 192 at the third-party entity based on a detectedtrigger word and configuration information provided by a voice adaptor196.

In some embodiments, voice platform 192 may perform one or more ofsecondary trigger word detection, automated speech recognition (ASR),natural language processing (NLP), and intent determination. Theperformance of these functions by voice platform 192 may enable audioresponsive electronic device 122 to utilize a low power processor (e.g.,a DSP) with reduced memory capacity while still providing reliable voicecommand control.

In some embodiments, voice platform 192 may perform a secondary triggerword detection on the received voice input. For example, voice platform192 may perform a secondary trigger word detection when user interfaceand command module 128 detects a trigger word with a low confidencevalue. This secondary trigger word detection may improve trigger worddetection accuracy.

In some embodiments, voice platform 192 may select a digital assistant180 based on the detected trigger word. In some embodiments, voiceplatform 192 may select a digital assistant 180 based on lookup tablethat maps trigger words to a particular digital assistant 180. Voiceplatform 192 may then dispatch the preprocessed voice input to theselected digital assistant 180 for processing.

In some embodiments, a digital assistant 180 may process thepreprocessed voice input as commands. In some embodiments, a digitalassistant 180 may provide a response to audio response electronic device122 via network 118 for delivery to user 136.

FIG. 11 illustrates a block diagram of a voice platform 192 thatanalyzes voice input from audio responsive electronic device 122,according to some embodiments. FIG. 11 is discussed with reference toFIG. 1 , although this disclosure is not limited to that exampleembodiment. In the example of FIG. 11 , voice platform 192 includes adigital assistant 180 and an intent handler 1108. In the example of FIG.11 , digital assistant 180 includes an automated speech recognizer (ASR)1102, natural language unit (NLU) 1104, and a text-to-speech (TTS) unit1106. In some other embodiments, voice platform 192 may include a commonASR 1102 for one or more digital assistants 180.

In some embodiments, digital assistant 180 receives the preprocessedvoice input from audio responsive electronic device 122 at ASR 1102. Insome embodiments, digital assistant 180 may receive the preprocessedvoice input as a pulse-code modulation (PCM) voice stream. As would beappreciated by a person of ordinary skill in the art, digital assistant180 may receive the preprocessed voice input in various other dataformats.

In some embodiments, ASR 1102 may detect an end-of-utterance in thepreprocessed voice input. In other words, ASR 1102 may detect when auser 136 is done speaking. This may reduce the amount of data to analyzeby NLU 1104.

In some embodiments, ASR 1102 may determine which words were spoken inthe preprocessed voice input. In response to this determination, ASR1102 may output text results for the preprocessed voice input. Each textresult may have a certain level of confidence. For example, in someembodiments, ASR 1102 may output a word graph for the preprocessed voiceinput (e.g., a lattice that consists of word hypotheses).

In some embodiments, NLU 1104 receives the text results from ASR 1102.In some embodiments, NLU 1104 may generate a meaning representation ofthe text results through natural language understanding techniques aswould be appreciated by a person of ordinary skill in the art.

In some embodiments, NLU 1104 may generate an intent through naturallanguage understanding techniques as would be appreciated by a person ofordinary skill in the art. In some embodiments, an intent may be a datastructure that represents a task, goal, or outcome requested by a user136. For example, a user 136 may say “Hey Roku, play jazz on Pandora onmy television.” In response, NLU 1104 may determine that the intent ofuser 136 is to play jazz on an application 194 (e.g., the Pandoraapplication) on display device 104. In some embodiments, the intent maybe specific to NLU 1104. This is because a particular digital assistant180 may provide NLU 1104.

In some embodiments, intent handler 198 may receive an intent from NLU1104. In some embodiments, intent handler 1108 may convert the intentinto a standard format. For example, in some embodiments, intent handler1108 may convert the intent into a standard format for media device 114.

In some embodiments, intent handler 1108 may convert the intent into afixed number of intent types. In some embodiments, this may providefaster intent processing for media device 114.

In some embodiments, intent handler 1108 may refine an intent based oninformation in a cloud computing platform. For example, in someembodiments, user 136 may say “Hey Roku, play jazz.” In response, NLU1104 may determine that the intent of user 136 is to play jazz. Intenthandler 1108 may further determine an application for playing jazz. Forexample, in some embodiments, intent handler 1108 may search a cloudcomputing platform for an application that plays jazz. Intent handler1108 may then refine the intent by adding the determined application tothe intent.

In some embodiments, intent handler 1108 may add other types of metadatato an intent. For example, in some embodiments, intent handler 1108 mayresolve a device name in an intent. For example, intent handler 1108 mayrefine an intent of “watch NBA basketball on my TV” to an intent of“watch NBA basketball on <ESN=7H1642000026>”.

In some embodiments, intent handler 1108 may add search results to anintent. For example, in response to “Show me famous movies”, intenthandler 1108 may add search results such as “Star Wars” and “Gone Withthe Wind” to the intent.

In some embodiments, voice platform 192 may overrule the selecteddigital assistant 180. For example, voice platform 192 may select adifferent digital assistant 180 than is normally selected based on thedetected trigger word. Voice platform 192 may overrule the selecteddigital assistant 180 because some digital assistants 180 may performcertain types of tasks better than other digital assistants 180. Forexample, in some embodiments, voice platform 192 may determine that thedigital assistant 180 selected based on the detected trigger word doesnot perform the requested task as well as another digital assistant 180.In response, voice platform 192 may dispatch the voice input to theother digital assistant 180.

In some embodiments, voice platform 192 may overrule the selecteddigital assistant 180 based on crowdsourced data. In some embodiments,voice platform 192 may track what digital assistant 180 is most oftenused for certain types tasks. In some other embodiments, a crowdsourceserver may keep track of which digital assistants 180 are used forcertain types of tasks. As would be appreciated by a person of ordinaryskill in the art, voice platform 192 may track the usage of differentdigital assistants 180 using various criteria including, but not limitedto, time of day, location, and frequency. In some embodiments, voiceplatform 192 may select a different digital assistant 180 based on thistracking. Voice platform 192 may then dispatch the voice input to thisnewly selected digital assistant 180 for processing.

For example, in some embodiments, a majority of users 136 may use adigital assistant 180 from Google, Inc. to look up general information.However, a user 136 may submit a voice input of “Hey Siri, what is thecapital of Minnesota?” that would normally be processed by Apple Inc.'sSiri® digital assistant 180 due to the user 136's use of the triggerword “Hey Siri.” But in some embodiments, voice platform 192 may consulta crowdsource server to determine if another digital assistant 180should be used instead. The voice platform 192 may then send the voiceinput to the Google digital assistant 180 (rather than Siri), if thecrowdsource data indicates that typically such general informationqueries are processed by the Google digital assistant 180.

In some embodiments, the crowdsource server may record the user 136'soriginal request for Siri to perform the lookup. For example, thecrowdsource server may increment a Siri counter relating to generalinformation queries by one. In the future, if a majority of usersrequest Siri to process general information queries (such that Siri'scounter becomes greater than Google's and the counters of other digitalassistants 180), then the voice platform 180 will dispatch such queriesto Siri for processing (rather than the Google digital assistant).

In some embodiments, voice platform 192 may send a generated intent tomedia device 114 for processing. For example, in some embodiments, adigital assistant 180 in voice platform 192 may send a generated intentto media device 114 for processing.

In some embodiments, a voice adaptor 196 may process an intent receivedfrom a digital assistant 180. For example, in some embodiments, a voiceadaptor 196 may determine an application 194 for handling the intent.

In some embodiments, a voice adaptor 196 may route an intent to anapplication 194 based on the intent indicating that application 194should process the intent. For example, user 136 may say “Hey Roku, playjazz on Pandora”. The resulting intent may therefore indicate that itshould be handled using a particular application 194 (e.g., the Pandoraapplication).

In some other embodiments, a particular application 194 may not bespecified in an intent. In some embodiments, a voice adaptor 196 mayroute the intent to an application 194 based on other criteria. Forexample, in some embodiments, a voice adaptor 196 may route the intentto an application 194 based on a trigger word. In some embodiments, thedigital assistant handler may route the intent to an application 194based on a fixed rule (e.g., send all podcasts to the Tunein application194). In some embodiments, a voice adaptor 196 may route the intent toan application 194 based on a user-configured default application (e.g.,a default music application 194). In some embodiments, a voice adaptor196 may route the intent to an application 194 based on the results of asearch (e.g., the Spotify application 194 is the only application thathas Sonata No. 5).

In some embodiments, digital assistant 180 may determine that it cannothandle the commands in the preprocessed voice input. In response, insome embodiments, digital assistant 180 may transmit a response to audioresponsive electronic device 122 indicating that digital assistant 180cannot handle the commands. In some other embodiments, digital assistant180 may transmit the response to media device 114.

In some embodiments, digital assistant 180 may determine that anotherdigital assistant 180 can handle the voice commands. In response, voiceplatform 192 may send the preprocessed voice input to the other digitalassistant 180 for handling.

In some embodiments, TTS 1106 may generate an audio response in responseto generation of an intent. In some embodiments, TTS 1106 may generatean audio response to being unable to generate an intent.

FIG. 12 illustrates a method 1200 for performing speech recognition fora digital assistant, according to some embodiments. Method 1200 can beperformed by processing logic that can comprise hardware (e.g.,circuitry, dedicated logic, programmable logic, microcode, etc.),software (e.g., instructions executing on a processing device), or acombination thereof. It is to be appreciated that not all steps may beneeded to perform the disclosure provided herein. Further, some of thesteps may be performed simultaneously, or in a different order thanshown in FIG. 12 , as will be understood by a person of ordinary skillin the art. Method 1200 is discussed with respect to FIGS. 1 and 11 .

In 1202, audio responsive electronic device 122 receives a voice inputfrom user 136 via microphone array 124.

In 1204, user interface and command module 128 optionally performs echocancellation on voice input. For example, in some embodiments, userinterface and command module 128 may subtract a background audio signal(e.g., an audio signal being output by media system 102 via speakers108) from the voice input received via microphone array 124.

In 1206, user interface and command module 128 detects a trigger word inthe voice input. In some embodiments, user interface and command module128 may perform trigger word detection for a single trigger word. Insome other embodiments, user interface and command module 128 mayperform trigger word detection for multiple trigger words.

In some embodiments, user interface and command module 128 may detect atrigger word by performing speech recognition on the voice input andcompare the speech recognition result to the trigger word.

In some embodiments, user interface and command module 128 may performtrigger word detection on the voice input using reduced processingcapability and memory capacity. This is because there may be a smallnumber of trigger words, and the trigger words may be of short duration.

In 1208, user interface and command module 128 optionally performs noisecancellation on the voice input. In some embodiments, user interface andcommand module 128 performs noise cancellation on the voice input usingbeam forming module 132. For example, beam forming module 132 may adjustthe reception pattern at microphone array 124 to emphasize reception ofaudio from user 136.

In 1210, user interface and command module 128 transmits the processedvoice input to voice platform 192 based on the detection of the triggerword in the voice input.

In some embodiments, if user interface and command module 128 detects atrigger word in the voice input, user interface and command module 128may stream the voice input to a digital assistant 180 in voice platform192 that is associated with the trigger word. In some other embodiments,if user interface and command module 128 detects a trigger word in thevoice input, user interface and command module 128 may provide the voiceinput to a voice adaptor 196 which streams the voice input to a digitalassistant 180 in voice platform 192 that is associated with the triggerword.

In some embodiments, voice platform 192 may perform a secondary triggerword detection on the received voice input. In some embodiments, voiceplatform 192 may select a digital assistant 180 based on the detectedtrigger word. In some embodiments, voice platform 192 may select adigital assistant 180 based on lookup table that maps trigger words to aparticular digital assistant 180. Voice platform 192 may then dispatchthe preprocessed voice input to the selected digital assistant 180 forprocessing.

In some embodiments, voice platform 192 may convert the voice input intoa text input using ASR 1102 in digital assistant 180. In someembodiments, voice platform 192 may convert the text input into anintent using NLU 1104 in digital assistant 180. In some embodiments,voice platform 192 may convert the intent into a standard format usingintent handler 1108. In some embodiments, intent handler 1108 may refinethe intent based on information in a cloud computing platform.

In 1212, media device 114 receives an intent for the voice input fromthe voice platform 192. In some embodiments, the audio responsiveelectronic device 122 may receive the intent for the voice input fromthe voice platform 192.

In 1214, media device 114 processes the intent. For example, in someembodiments, a voice adaptor 196 on media device 114 may process theintent. In some other embodiments, when the audio responsive electronicdevice 122 receives the intent, it sends the intent to a voice adaptor196 on media device 114. The voice adaptor 196 may then process theintent.

In some embodiments, voice adaptor 196 may route the intent to anapplication 194 for handling based on the intent indicating thatapplication 194 should process the intent. In some other embodiments, avoice adaptor 196 may route the intent to an application 194 based on afixed rule, user-configured default application, or the results of asearch.

FIG. 13 illustrates a method 1300 for performing speech recognition formultiple digital assistants each having one or more unique triggerwords, according to some embodiments. Method 1300 can be performed byprocessing logic that can comprise hardware (e.g., circuitry, dedicatedlogic, programmable logic, microcode, etc.), software (e.g.,instructions executing on a processing device), or a combinationthereof. It is to be appreciated that not all steps may be needed toperform the disclosure provided herein. Further, some of the steps maybe performed simultaneously, or in a different order than shown in FIG.13 , as will be understood by a person of ordinary skill in the art.Method 1300 is discussed with respect to FIGS. 1 and 11 .

In 1302, voice platform 192 receives a voice input from audio responsiveelectronic device 122.

In 1304, voice platform 192 detects a trigger word in the voice inputfrom audio responsive electronic device 122.

In 1306, voice platform 192 selects a digital assistant 108 frommultiple digital assistants 108 based on the detected trigger word. Insome embodiments, voice platform 192 may select a digital assistant 180based on a lookup table that maps different trigger words to the digitalassistants 180.

In 1308, voice platform 192 dispatches the voice input to the selecteddigital assistant 108 to generate an intent. For example, in someembodiments, the selected digital assistant 108 performs automatedspeech recognition using ASR 1102 on the voice input. The selecteddigital assistant 108 then performs natural language processing (NLP) onthe speech recognition result using NLU 1104 to generate the intent. Insome embodiments, voice platform 192 may convert the intent into astandard format intent using intent handler 1108. In some embodiments,intent handler 1108 may refine the intent by adding additionalinformation to the intent.

In 1310, voice platform 192 transmits the intent to media device 114 forprocessing. In some other embodiments, the audio responsive electronicdevice 122 may receive the intent. The audio responsive electronicdevice 122 may the transmit the intent to media device 114 forprocessing.

In some embodiments, a voice adaptor 196 associated with the selecteddigital assistant 108 processes the intent at media device 114. In someembodiments, voice adaptor 196 may route the intent to an application194 based on the intent indicating that application 194 should processthe intent. In some other embodiments, voice adaptor 196 may route theintent to an application 194 based on a fixed rule, user-configureddefault application, or the results of a search.

Enhancements to a Media System Based on Presence Detection

In some embodiments, similar to presence detector 150 in display device104, presence detector 160 in the audio responsive electronic device 122may detect the presence, or near presence of a user. Presence detector160 may further determine a position of a user. In some embodiments,presence detector 160 may be a passive infrared motion sensor thatdetects motion at a certain distance and angle. In some otherembodiments, presence detector 160 may be a passive sensor that detectsmotion at a certain distance and angle based on an interaction of radiowaves (e.g., radio waves of the IEEE 802.11 standard) with a person(e.g., user 136). This determined distance and angle may indicate user136 is in a specific location. For example, presence detector 160 maydetect user 136 in a specific quadrant of a room such as a living room.As would be appreciated by a person of ordinary skill in the art, remotecontrol 138 may similarly include a presence detector 160.

In some embodiments, presence detector 160 may be a motion detector, ora plurality of motion sensors. The motion sensor may be passive infrared(PIR) sensor that detects motion based on body heat. The motion sensormay be passive sensor that detects motion based on an interaction ofradio waves (e.g., radio waves of the IEEE 802.11 standard) with aperson. The motion sensor may be microwave motion sensor that detectsmotion using radar. For example, the microwave motion sensor may detectmotion through the principle of Doppler radar. The motion sensor may bean ultrasonic motion sensor. The motion sensor may be a tomographicmotion sensor that detects motion by sensing disturbances to radio wavesas they pass from node to node in a wireless network. The motion sensormay be video camera software that analyzes video from a video camera todetect motion in a field of view. The motion sensor may be a soundsensor that analyzes sound from a microphone to detect motion in thesurrounding area. As would be appreciated by a person of ordinary skillin the art, the motion sensor may be various other types of sensors, andmay use various other types of mechanisms for motion detection orpresence detection now known or developed in the future.

In some embodiments, similar to display device 104, audio responsiveelectronic device 122 may operate in standby mode. Standby mode may be alow power mode. Standby mode may reduce power consumption compared toleaving audio responsive electronic device 122 fully on. Audioresponsive electronic device 122 may also exit standby mode more quicklythan a time to perform a full startup. Standby mode may therefore reducethe time user 136 may have to wait before interacting with audioresponsive electronic device 122.

In some embodiments, audio responsive electronic device 122 may operatein standby mode by turning off one or more of microphone array 124, userinterface and command module 128, transceiver 130, beam forming module132, data storage 134, visual indicators 182, speakers 190, andprocessing module 184. The turning off of these one or more componentsmay reduce power usage. In some embodiments, audio responsive electronicdevice 122 may keep on microphone array 124 and or transceiver 130 instandby mode. This may allow audio responsive electronic device 122 toreceive input from user 136, or another device, via microphone array 124and or transceiver 130 and exit standby mode. For example, audioresponsive electronic device 122 may turn on user interface and commandmodule 128, beam forming module 132, data storage 134, visual indicators182, speakers 190, and processing module 184 upon exiting standby mode.

In some other embodiments, audio responsive electronic device 122 maykeep on presence detector 160, and turn off all other components instandby mode. Presence detector 160 may then monitor for the presence,or near presence, of user 136 by audio responsive electronic device 122.In some embodiments, presence detector 160 may cause audio responsiveelectronic device 122 to exit standby mode when presence detector 160detects the presence, or near presence, of user 136 by audio responsiveelectronic device 122. This is because the presence of user 136 by audioresponsive electronic device 122 likely means user 136 will beinterested in interacting with audio responsive electronic device 122.

In some embodiments, presence detector 160 may cause audio responsiveelectronic device 122 to exit standby mode when presence detector 160detects user 136 in a specific location. For example, presence detector160 may detect user 136 being in a specific quadrant of a room.Similarly, presence detector 160 may detect user 136 within a thresholddistance (e.g., 3 feet) of audio responsive electronic device 122. Thismay reduce the number of times presence detector 160 may inadvertentlycause audio responsive electronic device 122 to exit standby mode. Forexample, presence detector 160 may not cause audio responsive electronicdevice 122 to exit standby mode when a user is not within a thresholddistance of audio responsive electronic device 122.

In some embodiments, presence detector 160 may monitor for the presenceof user 136 by audio responsive electronic device 122 when audioresponsive electronic device 122 is turned on. Audio responsiveelectronic device 122 may detect the lack of presence of user 136 byaudio responsive electronic device 122 at a current time using presencedetector 160. Audio responsive electronic device 122 may then determinethe difference between the current time and a past time of a past userpresence detection by presence detector 160. Audio responsive electronicdevice 122 may place itself in standby mode if the time difference isgreater than a period of time threshold. The period of time thresholdmay be user configured. In some embodiments, audio responsive electronicdevice 122 may prompt user 136 via visual indicators 182 and or speakers190 to confirm user 136 does not plan to interact with audio responsiveelectronic device 122 in the near future. In some embodiments, audioresponsive electronic device 122 may place itself in standby mode ifuser 136 does not respond to the prompt in a period of time. Forexample, audio responsive electronic device 122 may place itself instandby mode if user 136 does not click a button on, or issue a voicecommand to, audio responsive electronic device 122.

In some embodiments, audio responsive electronic device 122 mayautomatically turn off microphone array 124 after a period of time. Thismay reduce power consumption. In some embodiments, presence detector 160may monitor for the presence of user 136 by audio responsive electronicdevice 122 when audio responsive electronic device 122 is turned on.Audio responsive electronic device 122 may detect the lack of presenceof user 136 by audio responsive electronic device 122 at a current timeusing presence detector 160. Audio responsive electronic device 122 maythen determine the difference between the current time and a past timeof a past user presence detection by presence detector 160. Audioresponsive electronic device 122 may turn off microphone array 124 ifthe time difference is greater than a period of time threshold. Theperiod of time threshold may be user configured. In some embodiments,audio responsive electronic device 122 may prompt user 136 via visualindicators 182 and or speakers 190 to confirm user 136 is not present,or does not plan to issue voice commands to microphone array 124 in thenear future. In some embodiments, audio responsive electronic device 122may turn off microphone array 124 if user 136 does not respond to theprompt in a period of time. For example, audio responsive electronicdevice 122 may turn off microphone array 124 if user 136 does not clicka button on, or issue a voice command to, audio responsive electronicdevice 122.

In some embodiments, audio responsive electronic device 122 mayautomatically turn on microphone array 124 after detecting the presenceof user 136. In some embodiments, audio responsive electronic device 122may turn on microphone array 124 when presence detector 150 detects user136 in a specific location. For example, presence detector 160 maydetect user 136 being in a specific quadrant of a room. Similarly,presence detector 160 may be a proximity detector that detects user 136is within a threshold distance (e.g., 3 feet) of audio responsiveelectronic device 122. This may reduce the number of times presencedetector 160 may inadvertently cause audio responsive electronic device122 to turn on microphone array 124. For example, audio responsiveelectronic device 122 may not turn on microphone array 124 when user 136is not within a threshold distance of audio responsive electronic device122.

In some embodiments, audio responsive electronic device 122 mayautomatically turn on transceiver 130 after detecting the presence ofuser 136. In some embodiments, this may reduce the amount of time tosetup a peer to peer wireless networking connection between the audioresponsive electronic device 122 and display device 104. In some otherembodiments, this may reduce the amount of time to setup a peer to peerwireless networking connection between the audio responsive electronicdevice 122 and media device 114. For example, audio responsiveelectronic device 122 may automatically establish setup, or reestablish,the peer to peer wireless networking connection in response to turningon transceiver 130. In some embodiments, audio responsive electronicdevice 122 may automatically send a keep alive message over the peer topeer wireless network connection to display device 104 after detectingthe presence of user 136. The keep alive message may ensure that thepeer to peer wireless network connection is not disconnected due toinactivity.

In some embodiments, audio responsive electronic device 122 may turn ontransceiver 130 when presence detector 150 detects user 136 in aspecific location. For example, presence detector 160 may detect user136 being in a specific quadrant of a room. Similarly, presence detector160 may detect user 136 within a threshold distance (e.g., 3 feet) ofaudio responsive electronic device 122. This may reduce the number oftimes presence detector 160 may inadvertently cause audio responsiveelectronic device 122 to turn on transceiver 130. For example, audioresponsive electronic device 122 may not turn on transceiver 130 whenuser 136 is not within a threshold distance of audio responsiveelectronic device 122.

As would be appreciated by a person of ordinary skill in the art, otherdevices in system 102 may be placed in standby mode. For example, mediadevice 114 may be placed in standby mode. For example, media device 114may turn off control interface module 116 when being placed into standbymode. Moreover, as would be appreciated by a person of ordinary skill inthe art, presence detector 150 or presence detector 160 may cause theseother devices to enter and exit standby mode as described herein. Forexample, presence detector 150 or presence detector 160 may cause theseother devices to turn on one or more components in response to detectingthe presence of user 136. Similarly, presence detector 150 or presencedetector 160 may cause these other devices to turn on one or morecomponents in response to detecting user 136 in a specific location.

In some embodiments, display device 104 may establish a peer to peerwireless network connection with audio responsive electronic device 122using transceiver 112. In some embodiments, the peer to peer wirelessnetwork connection may be WiFi Direct connection. In some otherembodiments, the peer to peer wireless network connection may be aBluetooth connection. As would be appreciated by a person of ordinaryskill in the art, the peer to peer wireless network connection may beimplemented using various other network protocols and standards.

In some embodiments, display device 104 may send commands to, andreceive commands from, audio responsive electronic device 122 over thispeer to peer wireless network connection. These commands may be intendedfor media device 114. In some embodiments, display device 104 may streamdata from media device 114 to audio responsive electronic device 122over this peer to peer wireless network connection. For example, displaydevice 104 may stream music data from media device 114 to audioresponsive electronic device 122 for playback using speaker(s) 190.

In some embodiments, display device 104 may determine the position ofuser 136 using presence detector 150, since user 136 may be consideredto be at the same location as audio responsive electronic device 122.For example, presence detector 150 may detect user 136 being in aspecific quadrant of a room.

In some embodiments, beam forming module 170 in display device 104 mayuse beam forming techniques on transceiver 112 to emphasize atransmission signal for the peer to peer wireless network connection forthe determined position of the audio responsive electronic device 122.For example, beam forming module 170 may adjust the transmission patternof transceiver 112 to be stronger at the position of the audioresponsive electronic device 122 using beam forming techniques. Beamforming module 170 may perform this functionality using any well knownbeam forming technique, operation, process, module, apparatus,technology, etc.

FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of microphone array 124 of the audioresponsive electronic device 122, shown in an example orientationrelative to the display device 104 and the user 136, according to someembodiments. In the example of FIG. 2 , the microphone array 124includes four microphones 126A-126D, although in other embodiments themicrophone array 124 may include any number of microphones 126.

In the example of FIG. 2 , microphones 126 are positioned relative toeach other in a general square configuration. For illustrative purposes,and not limiting, microphone 126A may be considered at the front;microphone 126D may be considered at the right; microphone 126C may beconsidered at the back; and microphone 126B may be considered at theleft. It is noted that such example designations may be set according toan expected or designated position of user 136 or display device 104, insome embodiments.

As shown in the example of FIG. 2 , the user 136 is positioned proximateto the back microphone 126C, and the display device 104 is positionedproximate to the front microphone 126A.

Each microphone 126 may have an associated reception pattern 204. Aswill be appreciated by persons skilled in the relevant art(s), amicrophone's reception pattern reflects the directionality of themicrophone, that is, the microphone's sensitivity to sound from variousdirections. As persons skilled in the relevant art(s) will appreciate,some microphones pick up sound equally from all directions, others pickup sound only from one direction or a particular combination ofdirections.

In the example orientation of FIG. 2 , the front microphone 126Areceives audio from speakers 108 of display 104 most clearly, given itsreception pattern 204A and relative to the other microphones 204B-204D.The back microphone 126C receives audio from user 136 most clearly,given its reception pattern 204C and relative to the other microphones126A, 126B and 126D.

FIG. 3 illustrates a method 302 for enhancing audio from a user (and/orother sources of audio commands) and de-enhancing audio from a displaydevice (and/or other noise sources), according to some embodiments.Method 302 can be performed by processing logic that can comprisehardware (e.g., circuitry, dedicated logic, programmable logic,microcode, etc.), software (e.g., instructions executing on a processingdevice), or a combination thereof. It is to be appreciated that not allsteps may be needed to perform the disclosure provided herein. Further,some of the steps may be performed simultaneously, or in a differentorder than shown in FIG. 3 , as will be understood by a person ofordinary skill in the art.

For illustrative and non-limiting purposes, method 302 shall bedescribed with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2 . However, method 302 is notlimited to those examples.

In 302, the position of a source of noise may be determined. Forexample, user interface and command module 128 of the audio responsiveelectronic device 122 may determine the position of display device 104.In embodiments, display device 104 may be considered a source of noisebecause audio commands may be expected from user 136 during times whendisplay device 104 is outputting audio of content via speakers 108.

In some embodiments, display device 104 may determine the position ofuser 136 using presence detector 150, since user 136 may be consideredto have the same position as audio responsive electronic device 122.Display device 104 may then transmit position information to audioresponsive electronic device 122 that defines the relative position ofdisplay device 104 to user 136. In some embodiments, audio responsiveelectronic device 122 may determine the position of display device 104based on this position information.

In some embodiments, user 136 may enter configuration settingsspecifying where the display device 104 is positioned proximate to oneof the microphones 126 (such as the front microphone 126A in the exampleorientation of FIG. 2 ). Such configuration settings may be stored indata storage 134 of the audio responsive electronic device 122.Accordingly, in 302, user interface and command module 128 may accessthe configuration settings in data storage 134 to determine the positionof display device 104.

In 304, audio from the source of noise may be de-enhanced or suppressed.For example, user interface and command module 128 may deactivatemicrophones 126 proximate to the display device 104 and having receptionpatterns 204 most likely to receive audio from display device 104.Specifically, in the example of FIG. 2 , user interface and commandmodule 128 may deactivate the front microphone 126A, and potentiallyalso the right microphone 126D and/or the left microphone 126B.

Alternatively or additionally, beam forming module 132 in the audioresponsive electronic device 122 may use beam forming techniques on anyof its microphones 126 to de-emphasize reception of audio from thedisplay device 104. For example, beam forming module 132 may adjust thereception pattern 204A of the front microphone 126A (and potentiallyalso reception patterns 204D and 204B of the right microphone 126D andthe left microphone 126) to suppress or even negate the receipt of audiofrom display device 104. Beam forming module 132 may perform thisfunctionality using any well known beam forming technique, operation,process, module, apparatus, technology, etc.

Alternatively or additionally, user interface and command module 128 mayissue a command via transceiver 130 to display device 104 to mutedisplay device 104. In some embodiments, user interface and commandmodule 128 may mute display device 104 after receiving and recognizing atrigger word. The user interface and command module 128 may operate inthis manner, since user interface and command module 128 expects toreceive one or more commands from user 136 after receiving a triggerword.

FIG. 4 illustrates an alternative or additional embodiment forimplementing elements 302 and 304 in FIG. 3 . In 404, user interface andcommand module 128 in the audio responsive electronic device 122receives the audio stream of content being also provided to displaydevice 104 from media device 114, for play over speakers 108. Userinterface and command module 128 may receive this audio stream frommedia device 114 via network 118 using, for example, WIFI, Blue Tooth,cellular, to name a few communication examples. User interface andcommand module 128 could also receive this audio stream from contentsource(s) 120 over network 118.

In 406, user interface and command module 128 may listen for audioreceived via microphone array 124 that matches the audio stream receivedin 404, using well known signal processing techniques and algorithms.

In 408, user interface and command module 128 may adjust the receptionpatterns 204 of those microphones 126 that received the matched audiostream, to suppress or even null audio reception of those microphones126. For example, in 408, user interface and command module 128 mayidentify the microphones 126 where the signal amplitude (or signalstrength) was the greatest during reception of the matched audio stream(such as the front microphone 126A in the example orientation of FIG. 2), and then operate with beam forming module 132 to suppress or nullaudio reception of those microphones 126 using well known beam formingtechniques.

Alternatively or additionally, user interface and command module 128 in408 may subtract the matched audio received in 406 from the combinedaudio received from all the microphones 126 in microphone array 124, tocompensate for noise from the display device 104.

In some embodiments, the operations depicted in flowchart 402 are notperformed when audio responsive electronic device 122 is powered by thebattery 140 because receipt of the audio stream in 404 may consumesignificant power, particularly if receipt is via WIFI or cellular.Instead, in these embodiments, flowchart 402 is performed when audioresponsive electronic device 122 is powered by an external source 142.

Referring back to FIG. 3 , in 306, the position of a source of commandsmay be determined. For example, in some embodiments, user interface andcommand module 128 of the audio responsive electronic device 122 maydetermine the position of user 136, since user 136 may be considered tobe the source of commands.

In some embodiments, audio responsive electronic device 122 maydetermine the position of user 136 using presence detector 160, sinceuser 136 may be considered to be the source of commands. For example,presence detector 160 may detect user 136 being in a specific quadrantof a room.

In some embodiments, user 136 may enter configuration settingsspecifying the user 136 is the source of commands, and is positionedproximate to one of the microphones 126 (such as the back microphone126C in the example orientation of FIG. 2 ). Accordingly, in 306, userinterface and command module 128 may access the configuration settingsin data storage 134 to determine the position of user 136.

In 308, audio from the source of commands may be enhanced. For example,user interface and command module 128 may enhance the audio sensitivityof microphones 126 proximate to the user 136 and having receptionpatterns 204 most likely to receive audio from user 136, using beamforming techniques. With regard to the example of FIG. 2 , the userinterface and command module 128 may use well known beam formingtechniques to adjust the reception pattern 204C of back microphone 126Cto enhance the ability of back microphone 126C to clearly receive audiofrom user 136.

FIG. 5 illustrates a method 500 for intelligently placing a displaydevice in a standby mode, according to some embodiments. Method 500 canbe performed by processing logic that can comprise hardware (e.g.,circuitry, dedicated logic, programmable logic, microcode, etc.),software (e.g., instructions executing on a processing device), or acombination thereof. It is to be appreciated that not all steps may beneeded to perform the disclosure provided herein. Further, some of thesteps may be performed simultaneously, or in a different order thanshown in FIG. 5 , as will be understood by a person of ordinary skill inthe art.

For illustrative and non-limiting purposes, method 500 shall bedescribed with reference to FIG. 1 . However, method 500 is not limitedto that example.

In 502, display device 104 determines a lack of presence of user 136 ator proximate to display device 104 at a current time. For example,presence detector 150 of display device 104 may determine a lack ofpresence of user 136.

In 504, display device 104 determines a difference between the currenttime of 502 and a past time when a user was present. In someembodiments, presence detector 150 of display device 104 may havedetermined the past time when a user was present. In some otherembodiments, display device 104 may have determined the past time when auser was present based on user interaction with display device 104.

In 506, display device 104 determines whether the difference of 504 isgreater than a threshold value. In some embodiments, the threshold valuemay be user configured. In some other embodiments, the threshold valuemay be defined by display device 104.

In 508, display device 104 places itself in a standby mode in responseto the determination that the difference of 506 is greater than thethreshold value in 506. For example, display device 104 may turn off oneor more of display 106, speaker(s) 108, control module 110, andtransceiver 112. In some embodiments, display device 104 may prompt user136 via display 106 and or speaker(s) 108 to confirm user 136 is stillwatching and or listening to display device 104. Display device 104 mayplace itself in standby mode if user 136 does not respond to the promptwithin a period of time.

FIG. 6 illustrates a method 600 for intelligently placing an audioremote control in a standby mode, according to some embodiments. Method600 can be performed by processing logic that can comprise hardware(e.g., circuitry, dedicated logic, programmable logic, microcode, etc.),software (e.g., instructions executing on a processing device), or acombination thereof. It is to be appreciated that not all steps may beneeded to perform the disclosure provided herein. Further, some of thesteps may be performed simultaneously, or in a different order thanshown in FIG. 6 , as will be understood by a person of ordinary skill inthe art.

For illustrative and non-limiting purposes, method 600 shall bedescribed with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2 . However, method 600 is notlimited to these examples.

In 602, audio responsive electronic device 122 determines a lack ofpresence of user 136 at audio responsive electronic device 122 at acurrent time. For example, presence detector 160 of audio responsiveelectronic device 122 may determine a lack of presence of user 136.

In 604, audio responsive electronic device 122 determines a differencebetween the current time of 602 and a past time when a user was present.In some embodiments, presence detector 160 of audio responsiveelectronic device 122 may have determined the past time when a user waspresent. In some other embodiments, audio responsive electronic device122 may have determined the past time when a user was present based onuser interaction with audio responsive electronic device 122.

In 606, audio responsive electronic device 122 determines whether thedifference of 604 is greater than a threshold value. In someembodiments, the threshold value may be user configured. In some otherembodiments, the threshold value may be defined by audio responsiveelectronic device 122.

In 608, audio responsive electronic device 122 places itself in astandby mode in response to the determination that the difference of 606is greater than the threshold value in 606. For example, audioresponsive electronic device 122 may turn off one or more of microphonearray 124, user interface and command module 128, transceiver 130, beamforming module 132, data storage 134, visual indicators 182, speakers190, and processing module 184. In some embodiments, audio responsiveelectronic device 122 may prompt user 136 via visual indicators 182 andor speakers 190 to confirm user 136 is still intends to interact withaudio responsive electronic device 122. Audio responsive electronicdevice 122 may place itself in standby mode if user 136 does not respondto the prompt within a period of time.

FIG. 7 illustrates a method 700 for performing intelligent transmissionfrom a display device to an audio remote control, according to someembodiments. Method 700 can be performed by processing logic that cancomprise hardware (e.g., circuitry, dedicated logic, programmable logic,microcode, etc.), software (e.g., instructions executing on a processingdevice), or a combination thereof. It is to be appreciated that not allsteps may be needed to perform the disclosure provided herein. Further,some of the steps may be performed simultaneously, or in a differentorder than shown in FIG. 7 , as will be understood by a person ofordinary skill in the art.

For illustrative and non-limiting purposes, method 500 shall bedescribed with reference to FIG. 1 . However, method 700 is not limitedto that example.

In 702, display device 104 establishes a peer to peer wireless networkconnection to audio responsive electronic device 122. For example,display device 104 establishes a WiFi Direct connection to audioresponsive electronic device 122. Display device 104 may transmit largeamounts of data over this peer to peer wireless network connection. Forexample, display device 104 may stream music over this peer to peerwireless network connection. Audio responsive electronic device 122 mayplay the streaming music via speakers 190. Alternatively, audioresponsive electronic device 122 may be communicatively coupled to a setof headphones and play the streaming music via the headphones.

In 704, display device 104 determines a position of user 136 at orproximate to display device 104. For example, presence detector 150 ofdisplay device 104 may determine a position of user 136. Display device104 determines a position of user 136 because user 136 will likely be atthe same position as audio responsive electronic device 122.

In 706, display device 104 configures a transmission pattern for thepeer to peer wireless network connection based on the determinedposition of user 136 in 704. For example, beam forming module 170 ofdisplay device 104 may use beam forming techniques discussed herein toconfigure transceiver 112 to emphasize or enhance a transmission signalfor the peer to peer wireless networking connection toward thedetermined position of user 136 in 704, e.g., the position of audioresponsive electronic device 122.

In 708, display device 104 performs a transmission to audio responsiveelectronic device 122 over the peer to peer wireless network accordingto the configured transmission pattern of 706.

For example, user 136 may listen to streaming music over the peer topeer wireless network connection via a pair of headphonescommunicatively coupled to audio responsive electronic device 122. Butstreaming music involves transmitting large amounts of data at a steadyrate. As a result, streaming music over a low bandwidth and orintermittent connection may result in choppy playback of the streamingmusic and or a loss of audio quality. Accordingly, enhancement of atransmission signal for the peer to peer wireless networking connectionmay increase the bandwidth of the connection and decrease connectioninterruptions. This may reduce choppy playback of the streaming musicand or poor audio quality.

For example, display device 104 may determine the position of user 136in a room as discussed herein. For example, display device 104 maydetermine that user 136 is sitting on a sofa in a specific quadrant inthe room. Based on this positional information, display device 104 mayuse beam forming techniques discussed herein to configure transceiver112 to enhance a transmission signal for the peer to peer wirelessnetworking connection toward the determined position of user 136, e.g.,the position of audio responsive electronic device 122. This mayincrease the bandwidth of the peer to peer wireless connection anddecrease connection interruptions. This may further reduce choppyplayback and or poor audio quality during playback of the streamingmusic on audio responsive electronic device 122, e.g., via a set ofheadphones communicatively coupled to audio responsive electronic device122.

As would be appreciated by a person of ordinary skill in the art,display device 104 may enhance a transmission signal for the peer topeer wireless networking connection to improve the performance ofvarious other functions of audio responsive electronic device 122 suchas, but not limited to, video playback and the playing of video games.Moreover, as would be appreciated by a person of ordinary skill in theart, other devices in system 102 may be configured to enhance atransmission signal for a wireless network connection based on thedetected presence or position of user 136 using presence detector 150 orpresence detector 160.

FIG. 8 illustrates a method 802 for enhancing audio from a user,according to some embodiments. In some embodiments, method 802 is analternative implementation of elements 306 and/or 308 in FIG. 3 .

In 804, the user interface and command module 128 in the audioresponsive electronic device 122 receives audio via microphone array124, and uses well know speech recognition technology to listen for anypredefined trigger word.

In 806, upon receipt of a trigger word, user interface and commandmodule 128 determines the position of the user 136. For example, in 806,user interface and command module 128 may identify the microphones 126where the signal amplitude (or signal strength) was the greatest duringreception of the trigger word(s) (such as the back microphone 126C inthe example of FIG. 2 ), and then operate with beam forming module 132to adjust the reception patterns 126 of the identified microphones 126(such as reception pattern 126C of the back microphone 126C) to enhanceaudio sensitivity and reception by those microphones 126. In this way,user interface and command module 128 may be able to better receiveaudio from user 136, to thus be able to better recognize commands in thereceived audio. Beam forming module 132 may perform this functionalityusing any well known beam forming technique, operation, process, module,apparatus, technology, etc.

In embodiments, trigger words and commands may be issued by any audiosource.

For example, trigger words and commands may be part of the audio trackof content such that the speakers 108 of display device 104 may audiblyoutput trigger words and audio commands as the content (received frommedia device 114) is played on the display device 104. In an embodiment,such audio commands may cause the media device 114 to retrieve relatedcontent from content sources 120, for playback or otherwise presentationvia display device 104. In these embodiments, audio responsiveelectronic device 122 may detect and recognize such trigger words andaudio commands in the manner described above with respect to FIGS. 3, 4,and 8 , except in this case the display device 104 is the source of thecommands, and the user 136 is a source of noise. Accordingly, withrespect to FIG. 3 , elements 302 and 304 are performed with respect tothe user 136 (since in this example the user 136 is the source ofnoise), and elements 306 and 308 are performed with respect to thedisplay device 104 (since in this example the display device 104 is thesource of audio commands).

In some embodiments, different trigger words may be used to identify thesource of commands. For example, the trigger word may be “Command” ifthe source of commands is the user 136. The trigger word may be “System”if the source of the commands is the display device 104 (oralternatively the trigger word may be a sound or sequence of sounds notaudible to humans if the source of the commands is the display device104). In this manner, the audio responsive electronic device 122 is ableto determine which audio source to de-enhance, and which audio source toenhance. For example, if the audio responsive electronic device 122determines the detected trigger word corresponds to the display device104 (such that the display device 104 is the source of audio commands),then the audio responsive electronic device 122 may operate in 302 and304 of FIG. 3 to de-enhance audio from user 136, and operate in 306 and308 of FIG. 3 to enhance audio from the display device 104.

In embodiments, the beam forming algorithms executed by the beam formingmodule 132 can be simplified because the display device 104 and the user136 are typically at stable locations relative to the audio responsiveelectronic device 122. That is, once initially positioned, the displaydevice 104 and the audio responsive electronic device 122 are typicallynot moved, or are moved by small amounts. Also, users 136 tend to watchthe display device 104 from the same locations, so their locationsrelative to the audio responsive electronic device 122 are also oftenstable.

Providing Visual Indicators from Computing Entities/Devices that areNon-Native to an Audio Responsive Electronic Device

As noted above, in some embodiments, the audio responsive electronicdevice 122 may communicate and operate with one or more digitalassistants 180 via the network 118. A digital assistant may include ahardware front-end component and a software back-end component. Thehardware component may be local to the user (located in the same room,for example), and the software component may be in the Internet cloud.Often, in operation, the hardware component receives an audible commandfrom the user, and provides the command to the software component over anetwork, such as the Internet. The software component processes thecommand and provides a response to the hardware component, for deliveryto the user (for example, the hardware component may audibly play theresponse to the user). In some embodiments, the digital assistants 180shown in FIG. 1 represent the software back-end; examples include butare not limited to AMAZON ALEXA, SIRI, CORTANA, GOOGLE ASSISTANT, etc.In some embodiments, the audio responsive electronic device 122represents the hardware front-end component. Thus, in some embodiments,the audio responsive electronic device 122 takes the place of AMAZONECHO when operating with ALEXA, or the IPHONE when operating with SIRI,or GOOGLE HOME when operating with the GOOGLE ASSISTANT, etc.

As discussed above, AMAZON ECHO is native to ALEXA. That is, AMAZON ECHOwas designed and implemented specifically for ALEXA, with knowledge ofits internal structure and operation, and vice versa. Similarly, theIPHONE is native to SIRI, MICROSOFT computers are native to CORTANA, andGOOGLE HOME is native to GOOGLE ASSISTANT. Because they are native toeach other, the back-end software component is able to control and causethe front-end hardware component to operate in a consistent, predictableand precise manner, because the back-end software component wasimplemented and operates with knowledge of the design and implementationof the front-end hardware component.

In contrast, in some embodiments, the audio responsive electronic device122 is not native to one or more of the digital assistants 180. There isa technological challenge when hardware (such as the audio responsiveelectronic device 122) is being controlled by non-native software (suchas digital assistants 180). The challenge results from the hardwarebeing partially or completely a closed system from the point of view ofthe software. Because specifics of the hardware are not known, it isdifficult or even impossible for the non-native software to control thehardware in predictable and precise ways.

Consider, for example, visual indicators 182 in the audio responsiveelectronic device 122. In some embodiments, visual indicators 182 are aseries of light emitting diodes (LEDs), such as 5 diodes (although thevisual indicators 182 can include more or less than 5 diodes). Digitalassistants 180 may wish to use visual indicators 182 to provide visualfeedback to (and otherwise visually communicate with) the user 136.However, because they are non-native, digital assistants 180 may nothave sufficient knowledge of the technical implementation of the audioresponsive electronic device 122 to enable control of the visualindicators 182 in a predictable and precise manner.

Some embodiments of this disclosure solve this technological challengeby providing a processor or processing module 184, and an interface 186and a library 188. An example library 188 is shown in FIG. 9 . In someembodiments, the library 188 and/or interface 186 represent anapplication programming interface (API) having commands for controllingthe visual indicators 182. Native and non-native electronic devices,such as digital assistants 180, media device 114, content sources 120,display device 104, etc., may use the API of the library 188 to controlthe audio responsive electronic device 122 in a consistent, predictableand precise manner.

In some embodiments, the library 188 may have a row 910 for each commandsupported by the API. Each row 910 may include information specifying anindex 904, category 906, type (or sub-category) 908, and/or visualindicator command 910. The index 904 may be an identifier of the APIcommand associated with the respective row 910. The category 906 mayspecify the category of the API command. In some embodiments, there maybe three categories of API commands: tone, function/scenario and userfeedback. However, other embodiments may include more, less and/ordifferent categories.

The tone category may correspond to an emotional state that a digitalassistant 180 may wish to convey when sending a message to the user 136via the audio responsive electronic device 122. The example library 188of FIG. 9 illustrates 2 rows 910A, 910B of the tone category. Theemotional state may be designated in the type field 908. According, row910A corresponds to a “happy” emotional state, and row 910B correspondsto a “sad” emotional state. Other embodiments may include any number oftone rows corresponding to any emotions.

The function/scenario category may correspond to functions and/orscenarios wherein a digital assistant 180 may wish to convey visualfeedback to the user 136 via the audio responsive electronic device 122.The example library 188 of FIG. 9 illustrates 3 rows 910C, 910D, 910E ofthe function/scenario category. The function/scenario may be designatedin the type field 908. According, row 910C corresponds to a situationwhere the audio responsive electronic device 122 is pausing playback,row 910D corresponds to a situation where the audio responsiveelectronic device 122 is processing a command, and row 910E correspondsto a situation where the audio responsive electronic device 122 iswaiting for audio input. Other embodiments may include any number offunction/scenario rows corresponding to any functions and/or scenarios.

The user feedback category may correspond to situations where a digitalassistant 180 or the audio responsive electronic device 122 may wish toprovide feedback or information (or otherwise communicate with) the user136. The example library 188 of FIG. 9 illustrates 2 rows 910F, 910G ofthe user feedback category. The user feedback situation may bedesignated in the type field 908. According, row 910F corresponds to asituation where a digital assistant 180 or the audio responsiveelectronic device 122 wishes to inform the user 136 that audio input wasclearly understood. Row 910G corresponds to a situation where a digitalassistant 180 or the audio responsive electronic device 122 wishes toinform the user 136 that audio input was not received or understood.Other embodiments may include any number of user feedback rowscorresponding to any user feedback messages.

The library 188 may specify how the audio responsive electronic device122 operates for the commands respectively associated with the rows 910.For example, information in the visual indicator command 910 field mayspecify how the visual indicators 182 in the audio responsive electronicdevice 122 operate for the commands respectively associated with therows 910. While the following describes operation of the visualindicators 182, in other embodiments the library 188 may specify howother functions and/or features of the audio responsive electronicdevice 122 operate for the commands respectively associated with therows 910.

In some embodiments, the visual indicator field 910 indicates: whichLEDs of the visual indicators 182 are on or off; the brightness of the“on” LEDs; the color of the “on” LEDs; and/or the movement of light ofthe LEDs (for example, whether the “on” LEDs are blinking, flashing fromone side to the other, etc.). For example, for row 910A, correspondingto the “happy” tone, all the LEDs are on with medium brightness, thecolor is green, and the LEDs are turned on to simulate slow movementfrom right to left. For row 910D, corresponding to the “processingcommand” function/scenario, all the LEDs are on with medium brightness,the color is blue, and the LEDs are blinking at medium speed. For row910E, corresponding to the “waiting for audio input” function/scenario,all the LEDs are off. For row 910G, corresponding to the “audio inputnot received or understood” user feedback category, all the LEDs are onwith high brightness, the color is red, and the LEDs are blinking athigh speed. These settings in the visual indicator command field 910 areprovided for illustrative purposes only and are not limiting. Thesesettings in the visual indicator command field 910 can be anyuser-defined settings.

FIG. 10 illustrates a method 1002 in the audio responsive electronicdevice 122 for predictably and precisely providing users 136 with visualinformation from computing entities/devices, such as but not limited todigital assistants 180, media device 114, content sources 120, displaydevice 104, etc. Such computing entities/devices may be native ornon-native to the audio responsive electronic device 122. Accordingly,embodiments of this disclosure overcome the technical challenge ofenabling a first computing device to predictably and precisely interactwith and control a second computing device, when the first computerdevice is not native to the second computing device.

Method 1002 can be performed by processing logic that can comprisehardware (e.g., circuitry, dedicated logic, programmable logic,microcode, etc.), software (e.g., instructions executing on a processingdevice), or a combination thereof. It is to be appreciated that not allsteps may be needed to perform the disclosure provided herein. Further,some of the steps may be performed simultaneously, or in a differentorder than shown in FIG. 10 , as will be understood by a person ofordinary skill in the art.

For illustrative and non-limiting purposes, method 1002 shall bedescribed with reference to FIGS. 1 and 9 . However, method 1002 is notlimited to those examples.

In 1004, the audio responsive electronic device 122 receives audio inputfrom user 136 or another source, such as from speakers 108 of display104. The microphone array 124 of the audio responsive electronic device122 receives such audio input. For example, user 136 may say “When doesthe new season of GAME OF THRONES start?”

In 1006, the audio responsive electronic device 122 determines if theaudio input was properly received and understood. The audio input maynot have been properly received if the user 136 was speaking in a lowvoice, if there was noise from other sources (such as from other usersor the display device 104), or any number of other reasons. The audioresponsive electronic device 122 may use well known speech recognitiontechnology to assist in determining whether the audio input was properlyreceived and understood in step 1006.

In some embodiments, in step 1006, the audio responsive electronicdevice 122 may use the library 188 to provide visual feedback to theuser 136 as to whether the audio input was properly received andunderstood. For example, the audio responsive electronic device 122 maysend index 6 to the interface 186 of processor 184 when the audio inputwas properly received and understood. Processor 184 may access thelibrary 188 using Index 6 to retrieve the information from row 910F,which corresponds to the “audio input clearly understood” user feedbackcommand. The processor 184 may use the visual indicator command field910 of the retrieved row 910F to cause the LEDs of the visual indicators182 to be one long bright green pulse.

As another example, the audio responsive electronic device 122 may sendIndex 7 to the interface 186 of processor 184 when the audio input wasnot properly received and understood. Processor 184 may access thelibrary 188 using Index 7 to retrieve the information from row 910G,which corresponds to the “audio input not received or understood” userfeedback command. The processor 184 may use the visual indicator commandfield 910 of the retrieved row 910G to cause the LEDs of the visualindicators 182 to be all on, bright red, and fast blinking.

If, in 1006, the audio responsive electronic device 122 determined theaudio input was properly received and understood, then in 1008 the audioresponsive electronic device 122 analyzes the audio input to identifythe intended target (or destination) of the audio input. For example,the audio responsive electronic device 122 may analyze the audio inputto identify keywords or trigger words in the audio input, such as “HEYSIRI” (indicating the intended target is SIRI), “HEY GOOGLE” (indicatingthe intended target is the GOOGLE ASSISTANT), or “HEY ROKU” (indicatingthe intended target is the media device 114).

In 1010, the audio responsive electronic device 122 transmits the audioinput to the intended target identified in 1008, via the network 118.The intended target processes the audio input and sends a reply messageto the audio responsive electronic device 122 over the network. In someembodiments, the reply message may include (1) a response, and (2) avisual indicator index.

For example, assume the intended target is SIRI and the audio input fromstep 1004 is “When does the new season of GAME OF THRONES start?” IfSIRI is not able to find an answer to the query, then the reply messagefrom SIRI may be:

(1) Response: “I don't know”

(2) Visual Indicator Index: 2

If SIRI is able to find an answer to the query, then the reply messagefrom SIRI may be:

(1) Response: “Soon”

(2) Visual Indicator Index: 1

In 1014, the audio responsive electronic device 122 processes theresponse received in step 1012. The response may be a message to audiblyplayback to the user 136 via speakers 190, or may be commands the audioresponsive electronic device 122 is instructed to perform (such ascommands to control the media device 114, the display device 104, etc.).In the above examples, the audio responsive electronic device 122 mayplay over speakers 190 “I don't know” or “Soon.”

Steps 1016 and 1018 are performed at the same time as step 1014, in someembodiments. In 1016, the interface 186 of the audio responsiveelectronic device 122 uses the visual indicator index (received in 1012)to access and retrieved information from a row 910 in the library 188.The processor 184 or interface 186 uses information in the visualindicator command field 910 of the retrieved row 910 to configure thevisual indicators 182.

In the above examples, when the received response is “I don't know” andthe received visual indicator index is 2, the processor 184 or interface186 causes every other LED of the visual indicators 182 to be on, redwith medium intensity, slowly blinking. When the received response is“Soon” and the received visual indicator index is 1, the processor 184or interface 186 causes all the LEDs of the visual indicators 182 to beon, green with medium intensity, configured to simulate slow movementfrom right to left.

The above operation of the audio responsive electronic device 122, andthe control and operation of the visual indicators 182, referenced SIRIas the intended digital assistant 180 for illustrative purposes only. Itshould be understood, however, that the audio responsive electronicdevice 122 and the visual indicators 182 would operate in the samepredictable and precise way for any other digital assistant 180, displaydevice 104, media device 114, etc., whether native or non-native to theaudio responsive electronic device 122.

Play/Stop and “Tell Me Something” Buttons in an Audio ResponsiveElectronic Device

Some audio responsive electronic devices are configured to respondsolely to audible commands. For example, consider a scenario where auser says a trigger word followed by “play country music.” In response,the audio responsive electronic device associated with the trigger wordmay play country music. To stop playback, the user may say the triggerword followed by “stop playing music.” A problem with this examplescenario exists, however, because the music being played may make itdifficult for the audio responsive electronic device to properly receiveand respond to the user's “stop playing music” command. Accordingly, theuser may be required to repeat the command, or state the command in alouder voice, either of which may detract from the user's enjoyment ofthe audio responsive electronic device.

FIG. 14 illustrates an audio responsive electronic device 1402 having aplay/stop button 1410, according to some embodiments. The play/stopbutton 1410 addresses these and other issues. It is noted that play/stopbutton 1410 may have different names in different embodiments.

The audio responsive electronic device 1402 also includes data storage1404 and a “tell me something” button 1412. Data storage 1404 includesan intent queue 1406 and topics database 1408. For ease of readability,only some of the components of audio responsive electronic device 1402are shown in FIG. 14 . In addition to, or instead of, those shown inFIG. 14 , audio responsive electronic device 1402 may include anycombination of components and/or function(s) of the audio responsiveelectronic device embodiments discussed herein.

FIG. 15 illustrates a method 1502 for controlling an audio responsiveelectronic device using a play/stop button, according to someembodiments. Method 1502 can be performed by processing logic that cancomprise hardware (e.g., circuitry, dedicated logic, programmable logic,microcode, etc.), software (e.g., instructions executing on a processingdevice), or a combination thereof. It is to be appreciated that not allsteps may be needed to perform the disclosure provided herein. Further,some of the steps may be performed simultaneously, or in a differentorder than shown in FIG. 15 , as will be understood by a person ofordinary skill in the art.

For illustrative and non-limiting purposes, method 1502 shall bedescribed with reference to FIGS. 1 and 14 . However, method 1502 is notlimited to those examples.

In 1504, a user 136 may press the play/stop button 1410 of the audioresponsive electronic device 1402. Alternatively, the user 136 may say atrigger word associated with the audio responsive electronic device 1402followed by “stop” or “pause” (or a similar command).

In 1506, the audio responsive electronic device 1402 may determine if itis currently playing content, and/or if another device in media system102 is currently playing content (such as media device 114 and/ordisplay device 104). For example, in 1506, the audio responsiveelectronic device 1402 may determine that it is currently playing music.Alternatively, in 1506, the audio responsive electronic device 1402 maydetermine that media device 114 in combination with display device 104is currently playing a movie or TV program.

If audio responsive electronic device 1402 determines in 1506 thatcontent is currently playing, then 1508 is performed. In 1508, the audioresponsive electronic device 1402 may pause the playback of the content,or may transmit appropriate commands to other devices in media system102 (such as media device 114 and/or display device 104) to pause theplayback of the content.

In 1510, the audio responsive electronic device 1402 may store stateinformation regarding the paused content. Such state information mayinclude, for example, information identifying the content, the source ofthe content (that is, which content source 120 provided, or wasproviding, the content), type of content (music, movie, TV program,audio book, game, etc.), genre of content (genre of music or movie, forexample), the timestamp of when the pause occurred, and/or point in thecontent where it was paused, as well as any other state information thatmay be used to resume playing content (based on the paused content) at alater time.

In some embodiments, the intent queue 1406 in data storage 1404 storesthe last N intents corresponding to the last N user commands, where N(an integer) is any predetermined system setting or user preference. Theaudio responsive electronic device 1402 stores such intents in theintent queue 1406 when it receives them from the voice platform 192 (forexample, see step 1310, discussed above). In some embodiments, theintent queue 1406 is configured as a last-in first-out (LIFO) queue.

In some embodiments, in 1510, the audio responsive electronic device1402 may store the state information in the intent queue 1406 with theintent corresponding to the content that was paused in 1508. In otherwords, the content that was paused in 1508 was originally caused to beplayed by the audio responsive electronic device 1402 based on an intentassociated with an audible command from a user. The audio responsiveelectronic device 1402 in 1510 may store the state information with thisintent in the intent queue 1406, such that if the intent is lateraccessed from the intent queue 1406, the state information may also beaccessed.

Returning to 1506, if the audio responsive electronic device 1402determines that content is not currently playing, then 1512 isperformed. In 1512, the audio responsive electronic device 1402 maydetermine if the intent queue 1406 is empty. If the intent queue 1406 isempty, then in 1514 the audio responsive electronic device 1402 mayprompt the user 136 to provide more information and/or command(s) onwhat the user 136 wished to perform when he pressed the play/stop button1410 in step 1504.

If the intent queue 1406 is not empty, then 1516 is performed. In 1516,the audio responsive electronic device 1402 may retrieve the mostrecently added intent from the intent queue 1406. The audio responsiveelectronic device 1402 may also retrieve the state information storedwith that intent. In some embodiments, if the user 136 in 1504 pressesthe play/stop button 1410 multiple times, then the audio responsiveelectronic device 1402 in 1516 may pop intents (and associated stateinformation) from the intent queue 1406 in a LIFO manner.

In 1518, the audio responsive electronic device 1402 may resume playingcontent based on the retrieved content and associated state information.For example, in some embodiments, the audio responsive electronic device1402 may (1) cause playback of the content to be resumed at the pointwhere playback was paused at 1508; (2) cause playback of the content tobe resumed at the beginning of the content; or (3) cause content in thesame genre—but not the particular content associated with the retrievedintent—to be played. It is noted this disclosure is not limited to theseexample playback options.

FIG. 16 illustrates a method 1600 for performing step 1518, according tosome embodiments. In other words, method 1600 illustrates an exampleapproach for determining how content will be played back in step 1518.Method 1600 can be performed by processing logic that can comprisehardware (e.g., circuitry, dedicated logic, programmable logic,microcode, etc.), software (e.g., instructions executing on a processingdevice), or a combination thereof. It is to be appreciated that not allsteps may be needed to perform the disclosure provided herein. Further,some of the steps may be performed simultaneously, or in a differentorder than shown in FIG. 16 , as will be understood by a person ofordinary skill in the art.

For illustrative and non-limiting purposes, method 1600 shall bedescribed with reference to FIGS. 1 and 14 . However, method 1600 is notlimited to those examples.

In 1602, the audio responsive electronic device 1402 may determinewhether to resume play of the content from the point where playback waspaused, or from the beginning of the content, based on the retrievedstate information, such as how long the content was paused, the type ofcontent, the source, etc. For example, if play was paused for greaterthan a predetermined threshold (as determined using the timestamp in thestate information identifying when the pause occurred), then the audioresponsive electronic device 1402 may decide to resume playing thecontent from the beginning rather than the point where the pauseoccurred. As another example, if the type of the content is a movie orTV program, then the audio responsive electronic device 1402 may decideto resume playing the content from the point where the pause occurred.For other content types, such as music, the audio responsive electronicdevice 1402 may decide to resume playing the content from the beginning.

The audio responsive electronic device 1402 may also consider the sourceof the content in step 1602. For example, if the content source 120allows retrieval of content only from the beginning, then the audioresponsive electronic device 1402 may decide to resume playing thecontent from the beginning rather than the point where the pauseoccurred.

In 1604, the audio responsive electronic device 1402 may determinewhether to play the content associated with the intent retrieved in step1516, or other content of the same genre, based on the retrieved stateinformation, such as the intent, the content, the type of content, thesource, etc. For example, if the user's original command (as indicatedby the intent) was to play a particular song, then the audio responsiveelectronic device 1402 may decide to play that specific song. If,instead, the user's original command was to play a genre of music (suchas country music), then the audio responsive electronic device 1402 maydecide to play music within that genre rather than the song paused atstep 1508.

The audio responsive electronic device 1402 may also consider the sourceof the content in step 1604. For example, if the content source 120 doesnot allow random access retrieval of specific content, but instead onlyallows retrieval based on genre, then the audio responsive electronicdevice 1402 may decide to play content within the same genre of thecontent associated with the intent retrieved in step 1516.

In step 1606, the audio responsive electronic device 1402 may access thecontent source(s) 120 identified in the state information to retrievecontent pursuant to the determinations made in steps 1602 and/or 1604.

In step 1608, the audio responsive electronic device 1402 may play thecontent retrieved in step 1606, or cause such content to be played byother devices in the media system 102 (such as media device 114 and/ordisplay device 104).

As noted above, in some embodiments, the audio responsive electronicdevice 1402 includes a tell me something button 1412. It is noted thatthe tell me something button 1412 may have different names in differentembodiments. FIG. 17 is a method 1702 directed to the operation of thetell me something button 1412, according to some embodiments. Method1702 can be performed by processing logic that can comprise hardware(e.g., circuitry, dedicated logic, programmable logic, microcode, etc.),software (e.g., instructions executing on a processing device), or acombination thereof. It is to be appreciated that not all steps may beneeded to perform the disclosure provided herein. Further, some of thesteps may be performed simultaneously, or in a different order thanshown in FIG. 17 , as will be understood by a person of ordinary skillin the art.

For illustrative and non-limiting purposes, method 1702 shall bedescribed with reference to FIGS. 1 and 14 . However, method 1702 is notlimited to those examples.

In 1704, user 136 may press the tell me something button 1412 of theaudio responsive electronic device 1402. Alternatively, the user 136 maysay a trigger word associated with the audio responsive electronicdevice 1402 followed by “tell me something” (or a similar command).

In 1706, the audio responsive electronic device 1402 may determine theidentity of the user 136. In some embodiments, the audio responsiveelectronic device 1402 may identify the user 136 based on usercharacteristics, such as user preferences and/or how the user 136interacts with the audio responsive electronic device 1402 and/or theremote control 138. In other embodiments, the audio responsiveelectronic device 1402 may identify the user 136 based on networkingapproaches, such as identifying cell phones (and associated users)within range of the audio responsive electronic device 122 or otherdevices in the media system 102, such as media device 114. These andother example approaches for identifying the user 136 are described inU.S. Patent Applications “Network-Based User Identification,” Ser. No.15/478,444 filed Apr. 4, 2017; and “Interaction-Based UserIdentification,” Ser. No. 15/478,448 filed Apr. 4, 2017, both of whichare herein incorporated by reference in their entireties.

In step 1708, the audio responsive electronic device 1402 may determinethe location of the user 136 using any of the approaches discussedherein, and/or other approaches, such as GPS (global positioning system)or location services functionality that may be included in audioresponsive electronic device 122, media device 114, the user 136'ssmartphone, etc.

In 1710, the audio responsive electronic device 1402 may accessinformation associated with the user 136 identified in step 1706, suchas user preferences, user history information, the user's mediasubscriptions, etc. Such user information may be accessed from otherdevices in media system 102, such as from media device 114 and/orcontent sources 120.

In 1712, the audio responsive electronic device 1402 may retrieve atopic from topic database 1408 based on, for example, the location ofthe user 136 (determined in step 1708) and/or information about the user136 (accessed in step 1710). The topics in topic database 1408 mayinclude or be related to program scheduling, new or changes in contentand/or content providers, public service announcements, promotions,advertisements, contests, trending topics, politics,local/national/world events, and/or topics of interest to the user 136,to name just some examples.

In 1714, the audio responsive electronic device 1402 may generate amessage that is based on the retrieved topic and customized for the user136 based on, for example, the location of the user 136 (determined instep 1708) and/or information about the user 136 (accessed in step1710). Then, the audio responsive electronic device 1402 may audiblyprovide the customized message to the user 136.

For example, assume the topic retrieved in step 1712 was a promotion fora free viewing period on Hulu. Also assume the user 136 is located inPalo Alto, Calif. The audio responsive electronic device 1402 may accesscontent source(s) 120 and/or other sources available via network 118 todetermine that the most popular show on Hulu for subscribers in PaloAlto is “Shark Tank.” Using information accessed in step 1710, the audioresponsive electronic device 1402 may also determine that the user 136is not a subscriber to Hulu. Accordingly, in step 1714, the audioresponsive electronic device 1402 may generate and say to the user 136the following customized message: “The most popular Hulu show in PaloAlto is Shark Tank. Say ‘Free Hulu Trial’ to watch for free.”

As another example, assume the topic retrieved in step 1712 was apromotion for discount pricing on commercial free Pandora. The audioresponsive electronic device 1402 may access content source(s) 120and/or other sources available via network 118, and/or informationretrieved in step 1710, to determine that the user 136 has asubscription to Pandora (with commercials), and listened to Pandora 13hours last month. Accordingly, in step 1714, the audio responsiveelectronic device 1402 may generate and say to the user 136 thefollowing customized message: “You listened to Pandora for 13 hours lastmonth. Say ‘Pandora with no commercials’ to sign up for discount pricingfor commercial-free Pandora.”

In 1716, the audio responsive electronic device 1402 receives an audiblecommand from the user 136. The received command may or may not berelated to or prompted by the customized topic message of step 1714.

In 1718, the audio responsive electronic device 1402 processes thereceived user command.

Example Computer System

Various embodiments and/or components therein can be implemented, forexample, using one or more computer systems, such as computer system1800 shown in FIG. 18 . Computer system 1800 can be any computer orcomputing device capable of performing the functions described herein.Computer system 1800 includes one or more processors (also calledcentral processing units, or CPUs), such as a processor 1804. Processor1804 is connected to a communication infrastructure or bus 1806.

One or more processors 1804 can each be a graphics processing unit(GPU). In some embodiments, a GPU is a processor that is a specializedelectronic circuit designed to process mathematically intensiveapplications. The GPU can have a parallel structure that is efficientfor parallel processing of large blocks of data, such as mathematicallyintensive data common to computer graphics applications, images, videos,etc.

Computer system 1800 also includes user input/output device(s) 1803,such as monitors, keyboards, pointing devices, etc., that communicatewith communication infrastructure 1806 through user input/outputinterface(s) 1802.

Computer system 1800 also includes a main or primary memory 1808, suchas random access memory (RAM). Main memory 1808 can include one or morelevels of cache. Main memory 1808 has stored therein control logic(i.e., computer software) and/or data.

Computer system 1800 can also include one or more secondary storagedevices or memory 1810. Secondary memory 1810 can include, for example,a hard disk drive 1812 and/or a removable storage device or drive 1814.Removable storage drive 1814 can be a floppy disk drive, a magnetic tapedrive, a compact disk drive, an optical storage device, tape backupdevice, and/or any other storage device/drive.

Removable storage drive 1814 can interact with a removable storage unit1818. Removable storage unit 1818 includes a computer usable or readablestorage device having stored thereon computer software (control logic)and/or data. Removable storage unit 1818 can be a floppy disk, magnetictape, compact disk, DVD, optical storage disk, and/any other computerdata storage device. Removable storage drive 1814 reads from and/orwrites to removable storage unit 1818 in a well-known manner.

According to an exemplary embodiment, secondary memory 1810 can includeother means, instrumentalities or other approaches for allowing computerprograms and/or other instructions and/or data to be accessed bycomputer system 1800. Such means, instrumentalities or other approachescan include, for example, a removable storage unit 1822 and an interface1820. Examples of the removable storage unit 1822 and the interface 1820can include a program cartridge and cartridge interface (such as thatfound in video game devices), a removable memory chip (such as an EPROMor PROM) and associated socket, a memory stick and USB port, a memorycard and associated memory card slot, and/or any other removable storageunit and associated interface.

Computer system 1800 can further include a communication or networkinterface 1824. Communication interface 1824 enables computer system1800 to communicate and interact with any combination of remote devices,remote networks, remote entities, etc. (individually and collectivelyreferenced by reference number 1828). For example, communicationinterface 1824 can allow computer system 1800 to communicate with remotedevices 1828 over communications path 1826, which can be wired and/orwireless, and which can include any combination of LANs, WANs, theInternet, etc. Control logic and/or data can be transmitted to and fromcomputer system 1800 via communication path 1826.

In some embodiments, a tangible apparatus or article of manufacturecomprising a tangible computer useable or readable medium having controllogic (software) stored thereon is also referred to herein as a computerprogram product or program storage device. This includes, but is notlimited to, computer system 1800, main memory 1808, secondary memory1810, and removable storage units 1818 and 1822, as well as tangiblearticles of manufacture embodying any combination of the foregoing. Suchcontrol logic, when executed by one or more data processing devices(such as computer system 1800), causes such data processing devices tooperate as described herein.

Based on the teachings contained in this disclosure, it will be apparentto persons skilled in the relevant art(s) how to make and useembodiments of the invention using data processing devices, computersystems and/or computer architectures other than that shown in FIG. 18 .In particular, embodiments can operate with software, hardware, and/oroperating system implementations other than those described herein.

It is to be appreciated that the Detailed Description section, and notany other section, is intended to be used to interpret the claims. Othersections can set forth one or more but not all exemplary embodiments ascontemplated by the inventor(s), and thus, are not intended to limitthis disclosure or the appended claims in any way.

While this disclosure describes exemplary embodiments for exemplaryfields and applications, it should be understood that the disclosure isnot limited thereto. Other embodiments and modifications thereto arepossible, and are within the scope and spirit of this disclosure. Forexample, and without limiting the generality of this paragraph,embodiments are not limited to the software, hardware, firmware, and/orentities illustrated in the figures and/or described herein. Further,embodiments (whether or not explicitly described herein) havesignificant utility to fields and applications beyond the examplesdescribed herein.

Embodiments have been described herein with the aid of functionalbuilding blocks illustrating the implementation of specified functionsand relationships thereof. The boundaries of these functional buildingblocks have been arbitrarily defined herein for the convenience of thedescription. Alternate boundaries can be defined as long as thespecified functions and relationships (or equivalents thereof) areappropriately performed. Also, alternative embodiments can performfunctional blocks, steps, operations, methods, etc. using orderingsdifferent than those described herein.

References herein to “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” “an exampleembodiment,” or similar phrases, indicate that the embodiment describedcan include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, butevery embodiment can not necessarily include the particular feature,structure, or characteristic. Moreover, such phrases are not necessarilyreferring to the same embodiment. Further, when a particular feature,structure, or characteristic is described in connection with anembodiment, it would be within the knowledge of persons skilled in therelevant art(s) to incorporate such feature, structure, orcharacteristic into other embodiments whether or not explicitlymentioned or described herein. Additionally, some embodiments can bedescribed using the expression “coupled” and “connected” along withtheir derivatives. These terms are not necessarily intended as synonymsfor each other. For example, some embodiments can be described using theterms “connected” and/or “coupled” to indicate that two or more elementsare in direct physical or electrical contact with each other. The term“coupled,” however, can also mean that two or more elements are not indirect contact with each other, but yet still co-operate or interactwith each other.

The breadth and scope of this disclosure should not be limited by any ofthe above-described exemplary embodiments, but should be defined only inaccordance with the following claims and their equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method for providing voicecontrol using multiple digital assistants, comprising: selecting, by atleast one processor, a first digital assistant from a plurality ofdigital assistants to process a voice input using a trigger word in thevoice input, wherein the selected first digital assistant is mapped tothe trigger word; determining that a second digital assistant from theplurality of digital assistants is unmapped to the trigger word, andthat the second digital assistant processes an intent associated withthe voice input more often than the selected first digital assistant;and selecting the second digital assistant from the plurality of digitalassistants to process the voice input based on the determining.
 2. Thecomputer-implemented of claim 1, further comprising: transmitting theintent to a voice adaptor at a media device, wherein the voice adaptorselects an application to process the intent based on a fixed rule,default application setting, a search result, or metadata in the intent.3. The computer-implemented of claim 1, further comprising: refining theintent based on information in a cloud computing platform.
 4. Thecomputer-implemented of claim 1, further comprising: generating theintent from the voice input using the selected first digital assistant.5. The computer-implemented of claim 1, further comprising: convertingthe voice input into a text input using an automated speech recognizerassociated with the selected first digital assistant; and generating theintent from the text input using a natural language unit associated withthe selected first digital assistant.
 6. The computer-implemented ofclaim 1, wherein the determining further comprises: determining that thesecond digital assistant processes the intent associated with the voiceinput more often than the selected first digital assistant based oncrowdsourced data, wherein the crowdsourced data indicates how ofteneach digital assistant in the plurality of digital assistants is used toprocess the intent.
 7. The computer-implemented of claim 6, furthercomprising: in response to selecting the second digital assistant,incrementing a count in the crowdsourced data that indicates a number oftimes the second digital assistant was selected.
 8. A voice platform,comprising: a memory; and at least one processor coupled to the memoryand configured to: select a first digital assistant from a plurality ofdigital assistants to process a voice input using a trigger word in thevoice input, wherein the selected first digital assistant is mapped tothe trigger word; determine that a second digital assistant from theplurality of digital assistants is unmapped to the trigger word, andthat the second digital assistant processes an intent associated withthe voice input more often than the selected first digital assistant;and select the second digital assistant from the plurality of digitalassistants to process the voice input based on the determining.
 9. Thevoice platform of claim 8, wherein the at least one processor is furtherconfigured to: transmit the intent to a voice adaptor at a media device,wherein the voice adaptor selects an application to process the intentbased on a fixed rule, default application setting, a search result, ormetadata in the intent.
 10. The voice platform of claim 8, wherein theat least one processor is further configured to: refine the intent basedon information in a cloud computing platform.
 11. The voice platform ofclaim 8, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:generate the intent from the voice input using the selected firstdigital assistant.
 12. The voice platform of claim 8, wherein the atleast one processor is further configured to: convert the voice inputinto a text input using an automated speech recognizer associated withthe selected first digital assistant; and generate the intent from thetext input using a natural language unit associated with the selectedfirst digital assistant.
 13. The voice platform of claim 8, wherein todetermine that the second digital assistant processes the intentassociated with the voice input more often than the selected firstdigital assistant, the at least one processor is further configured to:determine that the second digital assistant processes the intentassociated with the voice input more often than the selected firstdigital assistant based on crowdsourced data, wherein the crowdsourceddata indicates how often each digital assistant in the plurality ofdigital assistants is used to process the type of the intent.
 14. Thevoice platform of claim 13, wherein the at least one processor isfurther configured to: in response to selecting the second digitalassistant, increment a count in the crowdsourced data that indicates anumber of times the second digital assistant was selected.
 15. Anon-transitory computer-readable medium having instructions storedthereon that, when executed by at least one computing device, cause theat least one computing device to perform operations comprising:transmitting a voice input to a voice platform, wherein the voiceplatform selects a first digital assistant from a plurality of digitalassistants to process the voice input using a trigger word in the voiceinput, determines that a second digital assistant from the plurality ofdigital assistants is unmapped to the trigger word, and that the seconddigital assistant processes an intent associated with the voice inputmore often than the selected first digital assistant, and selects thesecond digital assistant from the plurality of digital assistants toprocess the voice input based on the determining; and receiving theintent from the voice platform.
 16. The non-transitory computer-readablemedium of claim 15, wherein the receiving the intent from the voiceplatform further comprises: receiving the intent at a voice adaptor,wherein the voice adaptor selects an application to process the intentbased on a fixed rule, default application setting, a search result, ormetadata in the intent.
 17. The non-transitory computer-readable mediumof claim 15, wherein the voice platform refines the intent based oninformation in a cloud computing platform.
 18. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the voice platformconverts the voice input into a text input using an automated speechrecognizer associated with the selected first digital assistant, andgenerates the intent from the text input using a natural language unitassociated with the selected first digital assistant.
 19. Thenon-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the voiceplatform determines that the second digital assistant processes theintent associated with the voice input more often than the selectedfirst digital assistant based on crowdsourced data, wherein thecrowdsourced data indicates how often each digital assistant in theplurality of digital assistants is used to process the intent.
 20. Thenon-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19, wherein the voiceplatform, in response to selecting the second digital assistant,increments a count in the crowdsourced data that indicates a number oftimes the second digital assistant was selected.